Online petition big hit, draws 3,000 signatures
The civic body itself has admitted that sewer to the extent of 18 million-litres a-day enters the lake.
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has stepped up the operation to clean the Powai Lake of the invasive hyacinth menace by deploying five machines.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar inf0rmed NatConnect Foundation that the civic body will expedite the clean up work and he asked the hydraulic engineer to focus on it.
NatConnect, which in association with embers of Advance Locality Management (ALM) group launched a campaign to save the Powai lake, has appreciated the BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani’s quick response in asking Bangar to look into the concerns over the pollution of the lake due to the release of untreated sewer.
BMC itself has admitted that sewer to the extent of 18 million-litres a-day enters the lake.
NatConnect has written to the Chief Minister and BMC Commissioner expressing concerns over the damage to the biodiversity due to the sewer and hyacinth menace.
There has been a tremendous response to the online petition, addressed to the CM and floated by NatConnect director B N Kumar and Powai resident Pamela Cheema (of Jalvayu Vihar). “We received over 3,000 signatures to the petition,” Kumar said.
BMC has now panned permanent measures for the conservation of the ecology and biodiversity of Powai Lake, including the removal of aquatic plants and floating plants. “However, due to the mixing of sewage in the lake, aquatic plants are flourishing at a faster rate,” BMC said.
The tendering process for diverting sewage from entering Powai Lake and setting up a sewage treatment plant is in the final stage, the civic body said.
The action was long overdue following the ruling of the NGT and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board holding a coordination committee meeting in January 2022, Kumar pointed out.
It is nothing short of a horrendous situation that 18mld of sewer enters the lake and then flows into the Arabian Sea via the Mithi River, NatConnect said
Vexed with continued inaction from the authorities to clean the Powai Lake which is packed to the brim with Hyacinth plants, local residents and environmentalists have launched campaign to save the waterbody and its biodiversity.
Under the banner of #SavePowaiLake, the activists have sent an email to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urging him to step in and order the civic authorities to clear the invasive water plants.
Pamela Cheema, who is also the chairperson of ALM, expressed the happiness that the BMC is acting now and “we sincerely hope that the action will be completed quickly”. Better late than never, said another resident Milan Bhat
Powai is home to crocodiles and a host of other aquatic life.
Once a beautiful, sprawling wetland, Powai Lake presents a pathetic view and anyone driving on the main road can see, Kumar said wondered as to why it has not caught the attention of any of the officials, Ministers or elected representatives.
