The sluggish however stable deterioration of Singanallur tank is slowly coming to mild with activists stepping up their initiative to give protection to the waterbody. The activists recently found out that the tank at the beginning had 3 sluice gates, however now there are handiest two. One of the sluice gates, they believe, might have been demolished or buried through encroachers.
Scientists running on the lake said there were 3 sluice gates and two weirs within the lake. All these sluice gates have great environmental worth as they help in flood mitigation, irrigation and diverting excess water into the river. But through the years, as the agricultural land across the lake diminished, the sluice gates were not being put to make use of. Encroachments and anti-social parts have broken and blocked nearly all outlet channels.
At provide handiest two sluice gates - one on the jap and the other on the southern bund - may also be discovered. The 3rd one, on the southern facet, is missing. Even those that exist have been blocked and are in a broken situation. One of the weirs too is in a dilapidated situation. "This is very dangerous because in case of floods or excess rain, the water will enter human habitations," said Joseph Reginald, member of the Centre for Urban Biodiversity conservation and education. Other mavens and scientists additionally said the channels and lake outlets were essential to lake conservation.
Over the years, fishing contractors have blocked the lake outlets to stop fish from leaving the water body and encroachers have blocked channels and constructed houses, raising concern among environmentalists.
When public works department officials were knowledgeable about this, they said they'd passed over upkeep of the lake to company officials. "In case of floods, there is a weir that will allow water to overflow into the Noyyal river," said Shanmugaraja, assistant engineer in-charge for Singanallur lake.
Corporation officials, when contacted, said the lake will be advanced beneath the smart town project.
"Over the past decades, the public works department has not taken any step to develop the lake due to funds crunch. So we took over the lake maintenance. We have slowly begun the conservation process," said a company engineer.
Environmentalists pointed out that about 750 acres farmland located across the lake was being cultivated.
"In case of a flood similar to the one Chennai experienced in December 2015, all crops will be destroyed. Steps should be taken to remove encroachments around the channels and repair the sluice gates," said a volunteer.
Scientists running on the lake said there were 3 sluice gates and two weirs within the lake. All these sluice gates have great environmental worth as they help in flood mitigation, irrigation and diverting excess water into the river. But through the years, as the agricultural land across the lake diminished, the sluice gates were not being put to make use of. Encroachments and anti-social parts have broken and blocked nearly all outlet channels.
At provide handiest two sluice gates - one on the jap and the other on the southern bund - may also be discovered. The 3rd one, on the southern facet, is missing. Even those that exist have been blocked and are in a broken situation. One of the weirs too is in a dilapidated situation. "This is very dangerous because in case of floods or excess rain, the water will enter human habitations," said Joseph Reginald, member of the Centre for Urban Biodiversity conservation and education. Other mavens and scientists additionally said the channels and lake outlets were essential to lake conservation.
Over the years, fishing contractors have blocked the lake outlets to stop fish from leaving the water body and encroachers have blocked channels and constructed houses, raising concern among environmentalists.
When public works department officials were knowledgeable about this, they said they'd passed over upkeep of the lake to company officials. "In case of floods, there is a weir that will allow water to overflow into the Noyyal river," said Shanmugaraja, assistant engineer in-charge for Singanallur lake.
Corporation officials, when contacted, said the lake will be advanced beneath the smart town project.
"Over the past decades, the public works department has not taken any step to develop the lake due to funds crunch. So we took over the lake maintenance. We have slowly begun the conservation process," said a company engineer.
Environmentalists pointed out that about 750 acres farmland located across the lake was being cultivated.
"In case of a flood similar to the one Chennai experienced in December 2015, all crops will be destroyed. Steps should be taken to remove encroachments around the channels and repair the sluice gates," said a volunteer.
Save Singanallur lake
![Save Singanallur lake]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
January 22, 2018
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