[5] In 1990, the government planned to use the lake bed for construction of public utilities, namely, a district court, bus terminus and the Tambaram Taluk office.

However, the locals resisted these governmental measures by means of a massive campaign to protect the lake and succeeded.

From April to September spot-dotted pelicans are seen, and round the year grey herons are seen in this lake.

[5] Garbage from 15,000 households and sewage from 1,500 commercial establishments on GST Road make their way into the lake.

In 1990, the state government planned to build a district court, a taluk office and a bus terminus on the bunds of the lake.

Sanitary workers of the local body dump 3 tonnes of waste generated by the town at the half-acre yard in front of the lake.

The remaining 5 tonnes of waste is collected from 10,030 households in the 18 wards of the local body by Green Friends of Hand-In-Hand (HIH).

In the past, dump yard has caught fire multiple times resulting in smoke that creates woes to the general public and the patients who come to the adjacent government hospital.

Waste received from restaurants and vegetable shop owners are composted at the shed allocated for segregation and bio-composting.

The residents associations have raised several petitions over the decade, requesting the officials and political leaders to move the garbage dumpyard away from Chitlapakkam and to ensure the lake area is recovered and put to proper use.

Edappadi K Palaniswami announced 25 crores for the lake restoration under Rule 110 based on the request of Chitlapakkam Rajendran the district secretary of ADMK on behalf of the people of Chitlapakkam.Later in the year 2022,the encroachment drive came after a Madras High Court order to protect water bodies and making Chitlapakkam Lake a model waterbody for the rest of the state.

[11] The lake serves as a local bird-watching center from April through September, pelicans can be spotted.