Anti-green Green pollutes Ambazari Lake

By Kaushik Bhattacharya

The iconic Ambazari Lake of the city is losing its charm due to intrusion of industrial effluent and sewage in recent time. The blue waters of the lake have now turned green due to ‘Algal Bloom’, which is also causing exploitation of aquatic life. Morning walkers noticed the green coloured water of the lake a couple of days ago and immediately informed the civic body. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is already struggling to get rid of the flooding of Eichhornia weeds in Ambazari lake, and now the spreading of Algae in the water body has raised the trouble. The lake is struggling for its existence from the beginning of this year when citizens first noticed Eichhornia in the waters of the lake. Initially, the civic body ignored it as a small issue, but it turned into a mammoth trouble for NMC in July when a video got viral on social media in which a youth was removing the weeds from the overflow side of the lake with the help of a bamboo to maintain the smooth flow of the water. The video spread like a wild fire in and around city and it compelled the city fathers to take step to stop this menace.

NMC started removing the weeds from the overflow side of the lake but it did not stop there and within a month, it spread all over the lake. NMC deployed its firemen to remove the weeds with the help of boats, which is still going on. After inspection and consultation with experts, the civic body got to know that it is happening due to intrusion of sewage water from MIDC Hingna and Wadi area. Recently, Nagpur Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Dr Abhijit Chaudhari also chaired a joint meeting with officials of MIDC Hingna, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and Wadi Municipal Council to stop the intrusion of sewage in the lake. Commissioner also asked MPCB to issue show cause notice to MIDC for this act. Now, the Algal Bloom in the lake raised trouble for NMC as environment experts and activists are raising question over the pollution happening in Ambazari lake. “We are taking the matter seriously and Municipal Commissioner himself is monitoring the matter. He also asked MPCB to take action against MIDC and Wadi Municipal Council for this act,” Dr Shweta Banerjee, Executive Engineer, Environment Department, NMC told The Hitavada. “There is one nullah connected with the lake and it is carrying sewage of Wadi area. Construction of one sewage treatment plant (STP) is going on over the nullah and it will take nine months to complete. We told Wadi Municipal Council to make temporary arrangement to stop the entry of sewage in the lake,” said Dr Banerjee.

Acting on NMC’s request, MPCB issued notice to MIDC Hingna for releasing industrial effluent in Ambazari lake. “Our team conducted an inspection around the water body. These weeds have a variety of negative impact once introduced into a freshwater environment. The Algal Bloom is also caused due to poor water quality of the lake,” said Hema Deshpande, Regional Officer, MPCB. “We have taken samples of the water and sent it to laboratory. We will take action against MIDC and Wadi Municipal Council after getting the test report of the water,” said Deshpande.

“Algae population increases in any lake when there is abundant availability of nutrients. It is caused due to abundance of two nutrients; phosphorus and nitrogen, usually caused by runoff of nutrients (animal waste, fertilisers, sewage) from the land. It depletes the supply of oxygen, leading to the death of aquatic life,” said Kaustav Chatterjee, Founder, Green Vigil Foundation. “If the increasing trend of algae population is not controlled, the lake might become eutrophic, thus depleting the dissolved oxygen level, resulting in high threat to the aquatic ecosystem. The only way to save the lake is to restrict the entry of nutrients in the lake,” Chatterjee added.