CHENNAI: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has sought a detailed report from the Corporation Commissioner and Managing Director and Chennai Metro Water and Sewage Board (CMWSSB) on the alleged failure to mechanise desilting of drains.
Taking suo-motu cognisance of a news article published in a Tamil daily on October 3, the commission, in a letter on Wednesday, stated that the matter would be listed for further consideration after four weeks.
The article claimed that the Corporation and CMWSSB have time and again turned to manual desilting of drains despite funds being allocated to mechanise the activities, thereby, endangering lives. While manual desilting is often done in stormwater drains, these drains have several illegal sewage connections. Desilting activities have been taken up on a war footing ahead of North East monsoons by state government. According to CAG report that was tabled in the Assembly in July this year, Government of Tamil Nadu in response to the charges of poor maintenance of Storm Water Drains (SWDs), had stated in April 2017 that the ban on manual scavenging created difficulties in cleaning them.