VELLORE: Residents of Ward 24 in Vellore Municipal Corporation on Thursday staged a protest over dumping sewage waste in an abandoned stone quarry near Moolakollai in Sathuvachari, which is a crucial water source in the area. They also seized corporation trucks involved in waste disposal. Following the intense protest, the vehicles returned with garbage.
Moolakollai residents claim that the unused quarry serves as the water source for a borewell that supplies drinking water to the community. But, the corporation dumps waste in the quarry. On Thursday, around 10.30 am, four corporation vehicles, including a JCB, arrived near the quarry with waste collected from sewage channels.
This prompted the residents to seize the vehicles and protest, arguing that waste would contaminate the groundwater. In response, Sathuvachari police officials, corporation officials and the corporation city health officer arrived at the scene and held discussions with the protesters. After intense discussions, the vehicles, including the JCB returned with the waste they had brought.
When contacted, Corporation Commissioner Janaki Raveendran said that there is provision for disposing of waste at abandoned stone quarries and the action was taken with the district collector’s permission.
“The protesters were advised to submit a petition to the district collector regarding the issue,” she said. A similar incident happened at Kollaimedu in Alamelumangapuram on Thursday, where the residents seized the corporation garbage trucks that were en route to a site near agricultural land for disposing waste. After a heated argument with corporation staff, the vehicles returned with the waste.