A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here seeking a direction to the Kodaikanal Municipality Commissioner to preserve the 64 acre lake in the hill station from being polluted by drainage water let out by private bungalows as well as government offices located around it.

The petitioner, S.A. Mahendra Babu of Tamil Nadu Environmental Council, a non-governmental organisation, alleged that private water lorries were drawing the polluted water from the lake and supplying it to residential houses as well as Mother Teresa Women's University.

A tragedy similar to Bhopal gas leak is in the making our own backyard -- Kodaikanal. A series of flawed policies in handling the mercury leak at the Hindustan Lever Limited's failure to p factory there nine years ago has denied justice to the people and resulted in f protect a sensitive ecosystem.

The mercury level detected in freshwater (Pambar River) is 30 times higher than the mercury level recommended by US-EPA for freshwaters -- Mark Chernaik, toxicologist and scientist

the Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal lakes in Tamil Nadu have been chosen for eco-restoration as part of the National Lake Conservation Pro