Powai lake.
Credit: NatConnect
Mumbai: Ahead of the Independence Day, environmentalists launched a focused campaign seeking freedom from sewer for Mumbai’s 600-hectare Powai Lake which has turned into a reservoir of filth with the draining of 18 million litres-a-day of untreated sewer.
With the title, “I Am Powai Lake, I need freedom from your sewer”, the NatConnect Foundation’s campaign pointed out that the lake was once a jewel of Mumbai as a prime attraction.
The campaign asks BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to include 'Clean Powai Lake' mission as part of its Swachh Bharat campaign.
Heaps of garbage such as plastic wrappers, liquor bottles, and even debris are being dumped on the lake, said activist Pamela Cheema, who is also the chairperson of BMC-mandated Advanced Locality Management (ALM) committee.
Ministers, Municipal officials have been promising action to clean up and free the lake from sewer and facilitate the flourishing of biodiversity, but like most official promises, these words too proved to be shallow, Cheema regretted.
Stressing that Mumbai citizens must realise that the sprawling wetlands such as Powai Lake are important for the city’s survival, NatConnect director B N Kumar pointed out that wetlands play a huge role in absorbing the carbon sink, hosting biodiversity, recharging the ground water table.
Kumar appreciated the fact that the Indian Government is a signatory to the global Ramsar Convention on conservation wetlands.
Recently, Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav posted on social media that India’s Resolution on 'Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles for the wise use of Wetlands' has been adopted at Ramsar CoP15 in Zimbabwe on July 30, 2025.
The maiden resolution of India received overwhelming support from Contracting Parties and International Organization Partners. 172 Countries and 6 International Organization Partners have thus joined hands in adopting the ethos of Mission LiFE in the conservation of their Wetlands, Yadav said.
“So far, so good,” Kumar said and argued that Powai Lake represents the true picture of degenerated wetlands in India.
Pointing out the hyacinth mess that is damaging the lake, another ALM member Meenal Bhat said with the currents and monsoon winds, the hyacinth might appear to be less in the middle of the waterbody. “But, please check the sides. Hyacinth is piled up there, and now it has begun to spread back into the lake,” she said.
Hyacinth must be cleaned so that the aqua life can breathe and get some sunshine that they need for their survival, Bhat said.
The campaign recalled that in a Parliament question hour, the then Minister Of State (Independent Charge) For Environment, Forest And Climate Change Anil Madhav Dave stated on November 11, 2016 that “Powai lake in Mumbai is covered under the NPCA/NLCP programme and a project of ‘Restoration and Conservation of Powai Lake’ has already been implemented by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) at a cost of Rs. 4.70 crore, under which conservation activities relating to bioremediation of lake, de-weeding, desludging, aeration system for lake, chain link fencing, monitoring, etc. were taken up.
A Standing Committee on Water Resources Report dated June 26, 2016, Powai Lake was included in the NPCA and was approved at a cost of Rs. 28.57 crores with Rs. 18.675 crores released by that date.
“We wonder as to what has happened to all that money? And what were the results that were achieved,” asked local activist Anamika Sharma.
The BMC has recently started the process of floating tenders for the diversion of the raw sewer and setting up treatment plants at the lake, she said and stressed the need to speed up the process