The Powai Lake, which happens to be one of the prime water bodies of the city, is again full of hyacinths, garbage, and sewerage. Fed up of the snail's pace that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has adopted to revive the Powai Lake, non-government organisations are pleading the state pollution authority to step in. The BMC officers are saying that it will take another year to revive the lake.
The hyacinths, garbage, and sewerage have been plaguing the Powai lake, that spreads over 220 hectare, for years. The BMC has spent around Rs 50 crore in the last 10 years to revive the lake. More than 50 per cent area of the lake is filled with hyacinths. The BMC had appointed a contractor to remove weed and floating garbage but over the last six months, the desilting machine has remained idle on the blanks of the Powai river. The tenure of the contract is already over and the civic body hasn't received a response to the new tenders. Now, the BMC is in the process of appointing another contractor. In the meantime, hyacinths continue to spread.
"The BMC is only interested in making cosmetic changes to the lake by constructing pathways around it. Despite spending more than Rs 50 crore, the civic body failed to revive the lake," D Stalin from Vanshakti said. He further added, "The desilting machine has been lying idle for six months. We have approached the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to look into the matter as the lake is important for the wild animals in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park."
According to a BMC officer, there are about 7 floodgates that carry sewerage water into the Powai lake. The contractor will construct intercept chambers to stop sewerage from getting into the lake. The drainage lines of nearby slums will be diverted to the Mithi river. " The BMC has identified the source of sewerage disposal and has given a contract to stop the discharge into the lake. It will take a year to do it. The civic body will also build a sewerage treatment plant near Powai," an officer with the Sewerage Disposal Project of the BMC said.
IN NEED OF IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
- Fed up of the snail’s pace that the BMC has adopted to revive the Powai Lake, non-government organisations are pleading the state pollution authority to step in
- The hyacinths, garbage, and sewerage have been plaguing the Powai lake, that spreads over 220 hectare, for years
- According to a BMC officer, there are about 7 floodgates that carry sewerage water into the Powai lake
- The contractor will construct intercept chambers to stop sewerage from getting into the lake
- The drainage lines of nearby slums will also be diverted to the Mithi river
