The Times of India 10.01.2011
CRZ reminder as restoration loses flow along Cooum
CHENNAI: For a brief
period in November 2005, Chennaiites could pass by the Cooum river
without any discomfort. The unbearable stench that usually emanated from
the river had somehow evaporated and the flowing waters looked crystal
clear. Egrets and cormorants flocked the Cooum to feast on fish.
However, this was not due to any efforts by the Corporation, but the
result of a random act of nature. Three days of torrential rains had
flushed out the waste and cleaned up the river. Can the latest Coastal Regulatory Zone Notification, 2010, similarly restore fresh waters to the Cooum?
Even if the state government makes a sincere effort to implement the
CRZ notification, whereby it has to initiate schemes to phase out
effluents and sewage discharge into the river within two years of the
notification’s release, the deadline imposed seems highly ambitious. In
December 2009, the state government had formed the Chennai River Authority
to clean up the 72-km stretch of Cooum River within 10 years. Very
little progress has been made so far, making the two-year target seem a
remote possibility.
“All the stake holders in Cooum restoration
including PWD, Metrowater, Chennai Corporation and CMDA will sit
together and study the notification. We will then formalise plans to
meet this deadline,” K Dhanavel, secretary PWD told The Times Of India.
Several crores have already gone down the drain in the name of Cooum’s
restoration but the condition of the river remains the same. The brief
spell when the 2005 rains restored its health, is a distant memory;
people today continue to travel past the Cooum’s banks holding their
noses.
In 2009, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had said
that the level of dissolved oxygen in the river was low due to rampant
pollution. The release of untreated effluents and sewage into the river
continues without much hindrance, though Metrowater claims to have
plugged all sewage release points to Cooum in 2005.
The latest
plan of the government to restore and beautify the Cooum, launched by
deputy chief minister M K Stalin in December 2009 includes the creation
of proper sewage systems for town, village panchayats and muncipalities
in upstream areas and strengthening of existing sewage systems. Most of
the sludge that accumulates in the river is due to untreated waste
released from urban settlements outside city limits and slums along the
riverbanks. The River Authority has been formed to devise an action plan
to permanently plug the flow of such domestic and industrial waste into
the Cooum, dredge and remove the sludge in the river, and finally
relocate the slums along its banks. Going by the progress, the task
appears to be an impossible one.
period in November 2005, Chennaiites could pass by the Cooum river
without any discomfort. The unbearable stench that usually emanated from
the river had somehow evaporated and the flowing waters looked crystal
clear. Egrets and cormorants flocked the Cooum to feast on fish.
However, this was not due to any efforts by the Corporation, but the
result of a random act of nature. Three days of torrential rains had
flushed out the waste and cleaned up the river. Can the latest Coastal Regulatory Zone Notification, 2010, similarly restore fresh waters to the Cooum?
Even if the state government makes a sincere effort to implement the
CRZ notification, whereby it has to initiate schemes to phase out
effluents and sewage discharge into the river within two years of the
notification’s release, the deadline imposed seems highly ambitious. In
December 2009, the state government had formed the Chennai River Authority
to clean up the 72-km stretch of Cooum River within 10 years. Very
little progress has been made so far, making the two-year target seem a
remote possibility.
“All the stake holders in Cooum restoration
including PWD, Metrowater, Chennai Corporation and CMDA will sit
together and study the notification. We will then formalise plans to
meet this deadline,” K Dhanavel, secretary PWD told The Times Of India.
Several crores have already gone down the drain in the name of Cooum’s
restoration but the condition of the river remains the same. The brief
spell when the 2005 rains restored its health, is a distant memory;
people today continue to travel past the Cooum’s banks holding their
noses.
In 2009, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had said
that the level of dissolved oxygen in the river was low due to rampant
pollution. The release of untreated effluents and sewage into the river
continues without much hindrance, though Metrowater claims to have
plugged all sewage release points to Cooum in 2005.
The latest
plan of the government to restore and beautify the Cooum, launched by
deputy chief minister M K Stalin in December 2009 includes the creation
of proper sewage systems for town, village panchayats and muncipalities
in upstream areas and strengthening of existing sewage systems. Most of
the sludge that accumulates in the river is due to untreated waste
released from urban settlements outside city limits and slums along the
riverbanks. The River Authority has been formed to devise an action plan
to permanently plug the flow of such domestic and industrial waste into
the Cooum, dredge and remove the sludge in the river, and finally
relocate the slums along its banks. Going by the progress, the task
appears to be an impossible one.