‘Relocate encroachments on Velachery lake or create new lake’

Chennai: Miffed at rampant encroachments by both govt bodies and private individuals on Velachery lake, reducing the waterbody from 265 acres to just 55 acres, National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the state to either relocate the encroachers or create a new waterbody upstream to prevent flooding in the future.
Tamil Nadu govt stated that creating new waterbodies inside Guindy National Park (GNP) is not feasible due to potential disturbances wildlife.In response, NGT said the govt should then either establish a new lake inside Madras Race Club (MRC) land or relocate all encroachments from Velachery Lake to the MRC premises in Guindy.
The bench was making the observations during the hearing of a case filed by Velachery residents complaining of pollution and encroachments in Velachery Lake.
The tribunal had earlier questioned the govt on the source of excess rainwater entering the lake every monsoon. Water Resources Department (WRD) said runoff from GNP and IIT Madras flows into the lake through a canal, with the water then passing through the marshland, Okkiyam Madavu, and Buckingham Canal before reaching the sea.
The Velachery lake has shrunk largely due to encroachments by Tamil Nadu Housing Board flats, slum clearance board tenements, Elcot buildings, and other residential units. This obstruction of water flow has led to recurrent floods in south Chennai.
Citing this, the tribunal last week asked whether any upstream waterbodies could channel excess rainwater before it reaches the lake, particularly within GNP. However, WRD informed the tribunal that while two ponds exist in the park, the deepening process would disturb the wildlife.
As a short-term measure, the govt is focusing on removing hyacinth and desilting supply channels, while also committing 23.5 crore to renovate and deepen Velachery lake to boost its storage capacity by 50%.
For the long term, it plans to deepen surrounding waterbodies, including those in Madipakkam, Kilkattalai, Moovarasampettai, Narayanapuram, and Pallikaranai, as part of a flood mitigation strategy.