CHENNAI: The rain has stopped and the city’s water bodies including the Cooum river are back to receiving untreated sewage, with scores of private tankers letting it out at night.
The depth of the Buckingham Canal, a major victim, has shrunk to just one foot at many places.
Along the Maduravoyal-Poonamallee Bypass, particularly at places like Thiruverkadu, private tankers unwilling to travel up to 15km to the pumping stations at Thirumazhisai or Avadi, simply dump sewage into the Cooum through storm water drains.
With the pipe going into the drain covered with a cloth, the act is hidden from passersby.
On Tuesday, TOI took pictures of two tanker drivers brazenly letting out sewage at Sennerkuppam and Poonamallee. One of them, caught in the act, fled the spot instantly.
The tankers may be from Chennai, but discharge sewage into drains under Tiruvallur district, outside Metrowater’s jurisdiction.
Pughalventhan V, an activist who has flagged at least 10 instances of such dumping in the past three years, said setting up pumping stations at Thizhuvezhkadu and Poonamallee could be a permanent solution.
Environmentalists say sewage in a river is a health hazard for both humans and nature.
“When untreated sewage is let out into a river, it increases pathogenic microbes destabilizing the rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. Since the river ends up in the sea, it destabilizes the whole ecosystem,” said T B Babu, a researcher in marine biology.
The problem is particularly severe along OMR, where around 40,000 households between Madhya Kailash and Thiruporur including apartment complexes and individual houses generate about 1.28 crore litres of sewage daily, as per the estimates of the Federation of OMR Resident Associations (FOMRRA).
“Of this, only about 5% reaches the Perungudi treatment plant. The majority goes straight into the Buckingham Canal,” said FOMRRA co-founder Harsha Koda.
Major General Jose Manavalan (retd), part of the Save Muttukadu Backwaters Campaign, said regular deposit of sludge had reduced the depth of the Buckingham Canal from 30 ft to just 1 ft over the past decade. “Now, cattle easily walk across it. If violations continue at this rate, the Buckingham Canal may disappear.”
Chengalpet collector A R Rahul Nadh said, “We have formed special teams under RDOs and DSPs to seize tankers disposing sewage into water bodies.”
In Tiruvallur, tankers have been seized for letting out sewage into Cooum, but police fail to book drivers.
“We have formed a special team in Poonamallee and Gummidipoondi for surveillance,” collector Dr Alby John said.
