MADURAI: Dissatisfied with the inaction of the district-level committee constituted in Madurai for the preservation and rehabilitation of the Vaigai River, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday granted a month's time to the committee to take necessary steps to stop discharge of sewage water into the river and file a report to the court on March 6.
A bench comprising Justices GR Swaminathan and B Pugalendhi noted that though the committee was constituted as early as in February 2020, not even a single meeting has been convened by the committee so far. Since the additional advocate general assured to ensure that the committee will fulfil the mandate cast upon it, the judges granted time and adjourned.
It was further brought to the notice of the court that the Tamil Nadu government had formed the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Conservation and Rivers Restoration Corporation Limited in 2019. The AAG said he will convene a meeting with the directors of the corporation and file a progress report at the next hearing.
The directions were issued on a contempt petition filed by one M Naga Rajan of Vaigai Nathi Makkal Iyakkam against the authorities for allegedly disobeying an order passed by the court on February 11, 2020 on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by Rajan seeking restoration of the river.
In the said order, the court had directed formation of the aforesaid committee in Madurai and four other districts. The committee was supposed to conduct periodical inspections on the banks of Vaigai and take action if sewage water is discharged into the river. The committee was also told to meet once a month to discuss progress. Finding that no such thing has been done so far, the judges issued the above directions.