Clean Rivers Trust has been asked for technical support and guidance by the new NGO set up by Pooja Dwivedi, the Sustainable India Foundation. It was formed out of frustration with the local and national authorities and their lack of action and support for those staff who were tasked to effect the remediation of a polluted lake (Ramala Lake) in the centre of Chandrapur, Maharashtra State, India.
Chandrapur is a fort city founded by Khandkya Ballal Sah, a Gond king of the 13th century The city is situated at the confluence of the Irai and Zarpat rivers.
Ramala Lake’s catchment area being 148 km2 and the size of the lake- 425,000M2. The lake is suffering from siltation from mining to the north of the city and untreated sewage and other waste from the slums of the city that abut the lake on its eastern shore. It also receives treated sewage from
Industry on the back of coal mining is making Chandrapur one of the fastest growing towns in India, with the consequent increases in population and of pollution. The growing slums discharge their wastes directly to the lake amd industrial and other discharges also enter. The waters are stifled in art by water hyacinth and are prone to algal flowering due to the high nutrient levels in the water. The lake still supplies some fish to the market but levels of metal contamination including lead and cadmium make their consumption unwise.