The Hindu 06.04.2013
Administration cracks the whip to keep channel clean
The facility has become an eyesore, says Collector.
With there being very little to distinguish the
complainants from the culprits vis a vis the deplorable condition of the
Kodappamund channel which cuts through the town, the district
administration has decided to crack the whip and concerned observers are
hoping that it will produce the desired results. The channel has been
identified as the main source of pollution of the Ooty Lake, which is
now in the process of being cleaned at a cost of Rs. 4.27 crore.
However
in cleaning the channel, the authorities concerned are finding
themselves in a one-step- forward-two steps backward situation.
Their
regret is that on the one hand complaints from various sections of the
society about the appalling condition of the channel is mounting and on
the other its misuse, mostly by the same persons, is continuing
notwithstanding warning signs put up by the district administration and
the Public Works Department-Water Resources Organisation (PWD-WRO),
which has been entrusted with the task of cleaning the lake.
Consequences
In
a bid to enlist the cooperation of the local people by making them
aware of the consequences of polluting the channel, Nilgiris Collector
Archana Patnaik has cautioned that the law will come down heavily on
those dumping garbage into the channel.
Stating that
it has come to the notice of the committee formed by the government to
clean and maintain the Ooty Lake that people residing along the channel
and some of the hoteliers are dumping various kinds of refuse including
household items, used milk packets, plastic bottles, old clothes and
discarded vegetables, she said that some were also habitually letting in
their effluents.
Lamenting that even the educated
sections of the society are abusing the channel which had come into
being only to prevent storm water from flooding low-lying areas, she
said that it has led to the facility getting polluted and becoming an
eyesore which is spoiling the beauty of the hill station.
Declaring
that dumping of garbage, plastic items and other forms of waste inside
the channel has been banned, Ms. Patnaik said that violators would be
fined up to Rs. 2,000.
Further, they would be made to remove what they have dumped.
Those
coming across people abusing the channel can inform PWD-WRO by calling
phone numbers 94430 77789 / 98949 61554 / 98659 98899.