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Plastic waste clogs Kodappamund Channel

Thursday, 30 March 2017 07:34
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The Hindu        30.03.2017  

Plastic waste clogs Kodappamund Channel

Plastic wastes choke the Kodapamund Channel near mini garden in Udhagamandalam.Photo:M.SathyamoorthyM_Sathyamoorthy;M_Sathyamoorthy -  

Public should have responsibility to prevent waste entering into the channel

The once pristine Kodappamund Channel, a natural stream that once used to host a wide variety of wildlife, and cuts through Udhagamandalam town, is now filled with plastic bottles and is being polluted with sewage waste.

Currently, the Public Works Department undertook the cleaning of the channel for a sum of Rs. 5 lakh, clearing tonnes of debris and waste, mostly limited to plastic waste from the channel.

Speaking to The Hindu , K Kalidas of OSAI, a conservation NGO, said that the existence of Udhagamandalam town was dependent on the natural channel, as John Sullivan, the founder of modern Ooty, was attracted to the Nilgiris because of the stream that used to host a wide variety of aquatic life.

“The water from the stream was tapped to irrigate the Sigur plateau, and it was even used as a drinking water source till around a few decades ago,” said Mr. Kalidas.

Mr. Kalidas said that priority should be given to the local ecology of the Nilgiris and called for measures to be adopted to stop plastic entering into the channel and also for sewage to not be dumped directly into it.

“There are waste management techniques and small technologies that can be adopted to treat domestic sewage and ensure that pollution is minimised and even eliminated,” he said, calling for small series of sewage treatment plants to be established along the course of the channel to treat waste water before letting it enter into the stream.

There is also ambiguity as to who actually has the ambit to maintain the stream, with the PWD, municipality and even the revenue department being equal stakeholders, said sources in the district administration.

While the PWD recently cleaned up the channel, the municipality has also been called in to clean waste and treat sewage, while the sewage treatment plant which treats the water before it enters the lake is also run by the municipality. Records also state that the revenue department is in possession of the land through which the channel passes.

The municipality has recently taken some perfunctory steps into minimising waste from entering the channel, with meetings being held with hotel owners to devise mechanisms whereby restaurants and hotels near the channel have a viable means of disposing of their waste without dumping it into the channel, but V. Prabhakaran, Commissioner (in-charge), Udhagamandalam Municipality, believes that locals and tourists have the first responsibility to prevent waste and garbage entering into the channel.

“We can clean the channel a few times, but it is up to the people to stop dumping waste illegally into the Kodappamund, and ensure that there is a lasting solution to the problem,” he said.

Mr. Kalidas said that environmentalist groups were planning on holding a meeting soon with the district administration to discuss water pollution in the various water bodies in the Nilgiris and to formulate lasting solutions that will ensure that they are rejuvenated and restored.

 

Corporation’s swimming pool soon to be opened for public

Thursday, 30 March 2017 00:00
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The Times of India        30.03.2017  

Corporation’s swimming pool soon to be opened for public

Representative image

 


COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation's swimming pool at Gandhi Park is likely to be reopened in two months. It remained closed nearly five years ago. The depth of the renovated pool will be 4.5-feet and 23.4metres in width.

In May 2012, a seven -year-old boy had drowned in the pool after he mistimed his dive. It was alleged that the caretaker of the pool failed to provide first aid, and later the boy died. It was also alleged that the swimming pool lacked enough infrastructure.

Following this, a plan was laid to redesign the pool and include all necessary amenities to make it safe for people to use it. "It took long time for us to come out with a new plan. The brief was to provide all necessary facilities for people to learn swimming," said an official of the Coimbatore Corporation. "Once the design was ready we started work around eight months ago," he added.

Projected at a cost of Rs1.25crore, the renovation is likely to end by the last week of April. "The pool's depth was 3.5feet to 12feet. It was proposed to reduce the depth and it is now 4.5feet throughout," said an officer. "The width of the pool was 6.7m (22feet) and has now been increased to 23.4metres," said the officer. TOI spoke to the construction workers at the site, and learnt that it will take about two months for them to complete the work. Asked about the supply of materials, the workers said that they have all construction materials in place. "Water is also available," said a worker.

The new pool will have a space to seat public. "It can seat about 100 people," said a worker at the site.

Besides these amenities, the pool will have a water recycling plant. "We have set up a chlorination and distillation unit. The recycled water will be used to water plants in the park," said an officer. "The swimming pool will be filled with fresh water every day that will be fetched from the bore well dug at the park (500feet)," added the officer.

 

The Coimbatore Corporation is yet to decide about the charges for using the pool and the timings when the pool will be open for public. "It will be decided in the council meeting," said an official. 

 

Corporation passes ‘secret’ budget citing code of conduct

Tuesday, 28 March 2017 00:00
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The Times of India      28.03.2017 

Corporation passes ‘secret’ budget citing code of conduct

File photo
CHENNAI: The 2017-18 budget for Greater Chennai Corporation has been passed, but it may be a while before we know what is in it. Corporation sources, however, say the budget is bereft of any major new project.

Special officer and corporation commissioner D Karthikeyan passed the fiscal budget, but the civic body is not making the documents public, citing the model code of conduct which has come into force for the RK Nagar byelection. NGO Satta Panchayat Iyakkam on Monday wrote to chief electoral officer Rajesh Lakhoni asking if this reason is valid. The code came into effect on March 9 for the bypoll scheduled on April 12. Sources in the corporation say that the budget was passed on March 14 and that there have been no major announcements and the focus has been only on storm water drains which received more than Rs1,000 crore allocation.

The NGO asked the election office if it was its order to Greater Chennai Corporation to withhold publishing the budget, and if the corporation has sought the election panel's clarification in this regard. "When the state budget can be released to the public, why our city budget can't be publicised. The election is only for one constituency in the city," said SPI general secretary Senthil Arumugam. Out of the 200 wards in the city, RK Nagar constitutes seven wards.

Civic chief D Karthikeyan told TOI that the model code of conduct did not prevent the corporation from passing the budget but that they require permission for making the budget document public. "We need to clarify with the Election Commission of India regarding giving budget details to the press," he said.

Every year, the fiscal budget for the city is passed mid-March by the mayor and his council. Since the AIADMK-led council's term ended in October and councillor elections were suspended, all local bodies were headed by their executive chiefs doubling up as special officers. The latter carries out all functions in the absence of an elected council and mayor. Every department had prepared proposals apart from the routine calculations of expenditure by the end of February. Following this they sat for discussions on projects to be rolled out. "There has been an acute shortage of funds, so there are no new projects in this budget," said a senior civic official said.

Residents say that as long as the budget is made public after the model code is lifted, they won't complain. "We need to know about the funds allocated," said Mythili Ramesh, a resident of Perungudi. "We are not involved in the budget planning stage, we can't be left out after the budget is passed too."
 
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