Chennai: Residents who let sewage into stormwater drains leading to Sembakkam lake fined – Times of India

CHENNAI: Chromepet and Chitlapakkam residents have been penalised Rs 500 each for releasing sewage into stormwater drains leading to Sembakkam lake, local bodies in-charge of the areas informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) during a hearing on July 12.
The inspection had also identified similar violation in other parts of the lake and the violators in that case were issued notices and asked to make use of Pallavaram municpality’s underground sewerage system.
The local bodies, which started examining such illegal sewer connections last year, added that the work of unplugging all such outfalls was completed on June 30.
Last February, NGT southern zone had constituted a joint committee to look into allegations raised by newspaper reports regarding largescale dumping of waste into a SWD canal in Chromepet, particularly at Nallappa Srinivasa Street.
This posed vector-borne health hazards, the reports said.
The joint-committee in March and June 2020 inspected the SWD canal, which is bound by Pallavaram municipal area on the northern side and Chitlapakkam town panchayat area in the south.
Residents from two streets on either sides released untreated sewage into the canal, the committee’s report said. Residents had used small pipes to release wastewater from their houses into the canal which drained into the Sembakkam Lake, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), which was part of the committee, told the tribunal. So notices were issued to the violators and a fine of Rs 500 was collected under the Public Health Act.
Considering the progress reported, NGT disposed of the case with specific directions to the local bodies and Chengalpet district collector to avoid such complaints in the future.