TN to convert 118-acre MRC land into waterbody

CHENNAI: The state government has decided to convert the entire 118 acres of land retrieved from the Madras Race Club (MRC) into a waterbody, a move aimed at boosting flood mitigation and groundwater recharge in south Chennai. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary N Muruganandam on August 19, attended by senior officials from the Department of Horticulture, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, the Greater Chennai Corporation, and the Water Resources Department (WRD). According D Shanmuganathan, standing counsel for Tamil Nadu government in National Green Tribunal, the chief secretary directed the WRD to carry out a detailed study on how best the land could be shaped into a functional waterbody. The land, strategically located in the upstream of the shrunken Velachery lake, has been at the centre of both development proposals and environmental litigation. GCC has already dug four ponds in the site, with a combined storage capacity of 4.7 million cubic feet, to aid rainwater harvesting. The latest government decision comes even as the southern bench of the NGT has asked the state to maintain status quo on the property until a comprehensive report is filed. Earlier, the NGT bench asked the state government to justify its decision to hand over the 118 acres of land to the Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops instead of restoring it as a waterbody. The tribunal is hearing connected cases, including a suo motu matter triggered by reports on the shrinking Velachery lake. Once spread over 255 acres, the lake has now been reduced to barely a fifth of its original extent, with substantial portions taken over by government agencies for housing and infrastructure projects. In an affidavit, Additional Chief Secretary (WRD) K Manivasan had said a `23.5 crore project under CMDAs Lake Front Development Scheme is already under way to desilt and deepen Velachery lake, which will increase its capacity by 22%. A detailed plan to rejuvenate surrounding tanks is also being prepared as part of a broader flood mitigation master plan. Counsel for the MRC, however, pointed out the original 99-year lease signed in 1946 expires only in 2045, and questioned the governments claim that it had formally taken possession of the land. The case is posted for further hearing to the second week of November.