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3/27/12 Chandola lake turns into dust bowl | Down To Earth

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Chandola lake turns into dust bowl0 Comments

Author(s): Sanyukta Dasgupta

Date: Oct 7, 2011

City authorities look the other way despite

court orders to conserve the lake

Chandola lake was once a lifeline of the city of Ahmedabad in

Gujarat. Divided into two parts, the Chota Chandola and the Bada

Chandola met the irrigation and industrial needs of the area. But

most of the lake that once spread over 1,200 hectares (ha) has

now been transformed into a dry dust bowl. The Chota Chandola

has been completely encroached and the Bada Chandola has

illegal squatters and slums on either side of the water body.

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The larger lake bed has shrunk to almost 15 per cent because the canals thatfeed it are choked and the smaller lake is gone

Photograph by: Sanyukta Dasgupta

Shailesh Shah, a trader who lives in Mani Nagar in south-eastern

part of Ahmedabad has seen the best and worst periods of the

lake. "As a child, I have seen it full of freshwater. The lake's water

used to be crystal clear and we could see the fish swimming below

the surface. But today, you don't see water at all. The larger lake

bed has shrunk to almost 15 per cent because the canals that

feed it are choked and the smaller lake is gone.” The pressure on

both the lakes means Chandola does not have enough water for

irrigation. What's more, the surrounding areas have become

prone to flooding because the natural drains are choked.

Chandola's story is not new. In 1960, there were 204 lakes in the

city, says advocate Mihir Joshi. According to government records,

only 137 water bodies have survived. In July 2000, when it rained

508 mm in one day, the city as well as the outskirts went under

water. As soon as the monsoon was over, the city faced a huge

water crisis, which was so severe that it became a political issue.

Still the legislators never thought of conserving the lakes, says

Joshi.

Court intervenes

The lake came into focus when Shah filed a public interest petition

in 2000 seeking court orders to save the lake. In 2001, the city

celebrated when the Gujarat High Court gave an interim

judgement stopping all the new constructions in wetlands. The

court even restricted new constructions within a radius of 500-

1,000 metres around the remaining 137 water bodies. The court

order seemed to annoy the builders and even the Ahmedabad

Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Ahmedabad Urban

Development Authority (AUDA). Builders and even the Indian

Institute of Management (which had land adjoining a water body)

filed affidavits, asking the court to modify its order. The two-

year-long legal battle initiated by Shah concluded in August, 2003

when the high court gave the final verdict. The court ordered the

state government, urban development authorities and the

municipal corporation to preserve the lakes and ponds in the

state. Any sort of pollution and encroachment should be checked,

said the order. Joshi, who fought for Chandola lake in the court,

explained that the ruling was a ray of hope to solve the water

crisis in the city.

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The court order said that the responsibility of deciding the

distance from lake to the construction site is left to the discretion

of the civic authorities responsible for urban development and

local bodies like municipal corporations and panchayats, based on

the town planning regulations. Earlier, in May 2002, AUDA had

notified the General Development Control Regulations, permitting

construction within nine metres of water bodies.

The municipal corporation has failed to stop solid waste dumping andencroachments near the lake

Photograph by: Sanyukta Dasgupta

Eight years post court ruling

After the high court ruling, the municipal corporation tried to stop

industrial effluent from flowing into the lake, but solid waste

dumping and encroachments were not taken care of says Shah.

He explains that the Kharicut canal, which was a major source of

water to this reservoir, is totally choked with garbage due to

negligence of the civic authorities. The other small canals have

also been filled or diverted on the pretext of further development

works. The lake bed is gradually turning into a garbage dump with

the slum dwellers using it for open defecation, says Shah.



Chandola's case proves that lakes that belong to the revenue

department are very easy to encroach. Once squatters take over,

they obtain political patronage in return for votes. This is what

has happened to the Chandola lake, says Joshi. Repeated pleas to

clear the encroachments and rehabilitate them have fallen on deaf

ears. In 2009, AMC officers razed a few illegal construction near

the lake but abandoned the exercise, says Shah.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is responsible for looking

after the lake. When contacted, chief engineer K N Parikh declined

to comment on the state of the water body. The corporation

claims that at present the water body is filled to its peak level.

However, when asked to comment on the encroachment, Parikh

blamed other departments for it.

The Central Ground Water Board data on groundwater shows

that the water level in Ahmedabad has dipped to 95 metres in

certain places (see graph). If water bodies like the Chandola are

not taken care of, the city will face a big crisis by way of drought

or flood. It's high time the legislators find a connection between

conservation of water bodies and water problems, say activists.

Measure that brought little

Following the court order on the lakes of Ahmedabad in 2003,

the Gujarat government created a water resources council,

headed by the chief minister to oversee the programme for

rejuvenating all water bodies. It was decided that a water

resources committee chaired by the chief secretary of the

state would assist this committee. These measures have

proved to be of little use as can be seen in the case of

Chadola.

With the speedy pace of industrialisation in the state, water

management and groundwater recharge is increasingly becoming

a challenge for the Gujarat authorities. Many districts have over-

exploited the existing ground water resources. In some talukas

the state government had to stop granting permissions for

drawing groundwater.

Despite efforts in improvement of groundwater table, the results

have not been very promising. A study by the Columbia Water

Center (CWC) of Earth Institute at Columbia University also

highlighted the alarming decline in the groundwater table over the

past two decades in Gujarat. This steady decline in the aquifer

level has affected the farmers the most as they sink bore wells

deeper for water. The civic authorities, however, have turned a

blind eye to the problem. Groundwater recharge and the

conservation of the existing lakes can be a solution to these

woes, say residents.

Tags: Web Specials, Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC),



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Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), Central Ground Water Board,Chandola lake, Columbia University, Columbia Water Center (CWC) of EarthInstitute, Conservation, Encroachments, Farmers, General Development ControlRegulations, Gujarat High Court, Indian Institute of Management, Industrialeffluent, Irrigation, Lake conservation, Mihir Joshi, Public Interest Petition,Shailesh Shah, Water Pollution

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