Summary:
“There are more than 100 points where sewage and drainage meet at irrigation canal. Trichy: A day after spotting dead fishes in the Uyyakondan irrigation canal across Trichy, residents have expressed concern about the pollution level in the water body, apprehensive of the impact it might create on the groundwater table in the vicinity.For more than a year, the Uyyakondan canal monthly review meeting, which is vital in curbing the pollution, has not been conducted. Following this, residents have asked the district administration to resume the meeting to monitor and prevent the irrigation canal from being polluted further.Though the authorities occasionally paint the public walls and establish parks on the banks, residents said the main problem was yet to be solved. Last year, a test done by TNPCB interestingly showed the water sample obtained from near Kuzhumayeee Amman temple was ‘not’ alarming even though the condition at the canal tells a different story.“Once we complete providing underground drainage network to neighbourhoods near Uyyakondan, sewage merging with the water body can be stopped,” said an official source with the corporation.Though the district administration has been maintaining for the past three months that the review meetings would resume, nothing has materialised so far. There is no point in beautifying the canal without taking action against those who let waste flow into the water body,” said S Pushpavanam, secretary, consumer protection council.Records showed the review meetings mostly attended by local body officials, public works department (PWD), revenue and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to monitor the overall progress in preventing the pollution, has not been conducted for about a year now.“The meeting should be held to discuss the progress made by each of the stakeholder departments to safeguard the 1,000-year-old water body,” said K C Neelamegam, secretary of Thanneer eNGO..