CHENNAI : With the sewage discharge prices hiked by Metro Water at Perungudi STP, private tankers will find it all the more convenient to dump wastewater into the three rivers in the city, fear residents and activists. Two such spots have been identified between Padur and Kazhipattur on OMR by residents. For the past four years, raw sewage and unsegregated garbage have been dumped into the Buckingham Canal at two locations in this three-kilometre stretch. This activity takes place behind Valeth High Tech Composite Pvt Ltd in Kazhipattur and behind Hindustan College in Padur, claim locals.
In Padur, private vendors from the neighbourhood dump at least 10-15 trucks of garbage every day on the banks of the Canal, said Jayanthi Jacob, a resident of Padur, who has been contacting all authorities to stop this issue. “On Tuesday, I saw a mini-van carrying construction waste dump garbage directly into the backwaters of Muttukaadu Lake,” she said.
From 2015 till 2017, raw sewage transported by private tankers was also discharged into the estuary at Padur, where the canal meets the ocean. Though the local association has complained to the Kancheepuram collector, Padur Panchayat, and Kelambakkam police, no action has been taken. “The Panchayat secretary told me that as Poramboke land, it can be used for dumping if the Panchayat has no alternate. The police also did not accept an FIR,” she added.
Residents said that from August 2018, sewage tankers stopped dumping at Padur and at the same time, this activity started in Kazhipattur, with 10 to 20 tankers dumping sewage into the Buckingham Canal. “I saw ten tankers arrive and dump waste into the canal,” said I Priyadharshini, founder of WasteWin, a waste management NGO. Public Works Department officials were unavailable for comment.