Be proactive in stopping damage to Perungudi Lake, says NGT

Reports are not a solution to the problem, the Bench said, calling for an action plan to take steps to prevent pollution to the water body

The damage caused to Perungudi lake cannot wait for a long period and for the “whims and fancies” of the administrators, who have to be proactive in taking steps to prevent the pollution being caused to the water body, the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal has said. The case relates to illegal discharge of sewage water into the lake.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) collected water samples from the lake for analysis. TNPCB informed the Tribunal that the parameters for total coliform and faecal coliform met the primary water quality criteria for bathing waters prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board but the Bio Chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) was over the limits prescribed.

The bench said that TNPCB had not mentioned the reason for the excess BOD in the water. Counsel for the Board submitted that it may be due to discharge of sewage water. “If that be the case, the observations made by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board that the total coliform is in conformity with the standard provided will have to be revisited,” the bench said.