CHENNAI: Normally, it is private tankers that are found discharging sewage into stormwater drains in the city but now a tanker lorry belonging to the Poonamallee Municipality has been caught letting out sewage into a drain multiple times from Friday.
Activist Pughalventhan V spotted the lorry discharging raw sewage into a stormwater drain near the ACS Medical College located along Poonamallee High Road.
Visuals shared with The New Indian Express showed that the lorry, on which ‘Poonamallee Municipality’ is written, was discharging sewage in the drains. “When I started taking images and videos, the driver immediately fled the spot,” said Pughalventhan. He said he spotted the lorry discharging sewage in the same locality on Friday and Saturday.
“Following this, I approached the municipality and showed the sanitary officials the images and videos and urged them to book the lorry driver. However, they asked me what was wrong in discharging the sewage into drains and how it mattered to me,” alleged Pughalventhan. He said after a long wait and despite repeated requests to make the authorities file a case, they did not act.
The New Indian Express has previously reported several times on how private tankers discharge sewage into drains instead of treating it in the pumping stations.
When contacted, officials with the municipality said that the driver may have erred and they would question why it happened. “It won’t happen again. We will question why the driver did it,” said an
official.