Plight of the Amman lake at Chromepet

CHENNAI : The lake beside Shri Sengachery Amman Temple (Zamin Royapettai) in Ward No 22 in Ganapathipuram locality in Chromepet falls short of the definition ‘ lake’ as hardly a drop of clean water can be seen stored in it.The entire ‘ lake’ drained off has no sign of identification as a reservoir. What was once a cubicle measuring about 120 metre x 60 metre in dimension has narrowly shrunk to even less than half of its original dimension, thanks to the encroachments done by the people living in the adjoining areas. The residents play a sly trick to encroach the lake that belongs to the Shri Sengachery Amman temple. They dump sand and stones on the sides and bring up the level gradually. When sufficient space has been obtained and the horizontal level stands on par with the road adjoining, then the construction of a house begins in the encroachd spot.The entire ‘ lake’ that belongs to the Amman temple has been occupied illegally by the realtors and residents and the once-holy pond may become extinct and turn out to be a relic of the past.The callous attitude of civic officials and revenue authorities to this issue stands glaringly seen. The Amman pond has been turned into a huge dustbin with the public in the neighbouring streets taking liberty to dump all domestic garbage and deposit every bit of polythene carrybags turning the spot into an eyesore. A hill of polythene waste bags is seen in the shallow region of pond.What could be more worse is when the revenue officials are inept to initiate any executive action or resort to legal means to retrieve the lost space. The Ward no 22 has no dustbin for the people to dump their domestic waste and hence this holy place is the only resort.The Municipal councillor of this ward E Ranganathan claims that the entire surrounding area has to be cordoned off with a brick wall construction to prevent further encroachment. In rainy days, the entire pond is filled with turbid water breeding mosquitoes and poisonous insects complicating things further, he adds. The public drain their domestic waste water into the pond that makes things worse, he regrets. However, Ranganathan promised to take further action.M Ezhumalai of Zamin Royapettai has been a resident of this ward 22 for the past 40 years. About 25 years ago , he remembers and recalls that the holy lake was used for conducting Theppoatsavam (quadrangular buoy with God’s images ).Legacies of the past gradually vanish right in front of our eyes. If the state officials fail to take a swift step at the right time , then there would be no doubt the Shri Sengachery Amman Temple itself would be hijacked away by the greedy realtors and the residents in the vicinity.