INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
CHENNAI: Named after Ecological Hot spot, the Ramapuram Lake and the park, which was inaugurated by Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC)
spending around Rs 1 crore in December last year, has failed to attract visitors due to the poor maintenance and beautification.With the
Cyclone Nivar and subsequent weeks-long heavy rainfall hit the city, the entire lake area now turned unattractive despite it's has been
the only source of drinking water for more than one lakh villagers. The civic body, as part of the rejuvenation, had set up an ecological
park by laying down a walkway around the lake. But the many portions of the walkway have now been damaged due to the heavy rain, and the
weeds and shrubs have grown in uncontrolled fashion all over the floor titles making walking difficult. Mr
Paul Dhas, President, Ramapuram Social Welfare Federation, said that the only thing looking good now out there was a name board with the
pictures of present and former Chief Ministers that was erected on the day of inauguration
Lake is filled with shrubs and algae. Concrete chairs placed around the lake turned useless due to the surroundings turned filthy and
unhygienic. Even after a year of inauguration, no pathway is laid to reach the walkway around the lake
Lot of electrical concrete boulders supposed to be brought in for beautification works are stacked at the frontage for many months.A little
space available to reach the lake is blocked due to vehicle parking
In short, so called park has now become a scarecrow as a result of poor maintenance of the lake as well as the park
We are happy to provide support if the GCC comes forward to maintain the park
This Lake was rejuvenated after the surrounding water bodies have already been encroached
Though the authorities claim that they would not allow further encroachments, the poor maintenance will only help the people to encourage in
the area further’, he said. Meanwhile, the authorities said they were planning to beautify the area by clearing the shrubs and weeds
once the rainy season would be over
The works would be undertaken with the support of various departments including Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB), said a zonal level
The lake was spread over 27 acres in the early 1990s, but in 2015 had shrunk to an area of four acres
Houses were built by citizens in the encroached land, and TNSCB tenements were constructed on the lake bed while a significant portion was
taken away by a private educational institution
In fact, various arms of the state government were confused about ownership of the lake. According to a report of tahsildar, Maduravoyal
Taluk in August 2019, out of 10.87 hectares (27acres) Ramapuram Lake and water-bodies spread over, 2.08 hectares (5.13 acres) has been
classified as ‘Gramanatham’ (village residential area) in the revenue records.The remaining extent of 8.79 hectares (21acres) stood
registered as Ramapuram Lake
Of this, 1.66hacters (4acres) was earmarked for Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board
The rest of the land must have remained as Ramapuram Lake and water-bodies.But the lake, in reality today, reduced to 85ares (2.1acres) due
Though the lake is maintained by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) since 2012, encroachments continue to be taking place in the
adjoining two sides of the lake in Thirumalai Nagar’, the report reveals.
