Off and on in the news for its appalling condition and role in either flooding low level areas or aggravating pollution related problems in the Ooty Lake, the Kodappamund channel, which runs through the town is once again in focus.

This time things have started looking up on the channel front. With those at the helm of affairs in the state municipal administration and pollution control underscoring the need to maintain the channel properly, the civic authorities here have put in place a plan of action to clean it.Speaking to The Hindu here on Friday, Municipal Commissioner K. Sivakumar said that a mass cleaning campaign has been set in motion.

As part of it, scores of conservancy workers of the municipality will over the next few days clean different parts of the channel which extends from Kodappamund at one end of the town to the Mini Garden at the other end. Subsequently, weekly maintenance works will be taken up.

To a question, he said that garbage accumulation inside the channel would not be allowed.The workers will be provided with protective accessories like gloves and gum boots and they will also be given the necessary tools. Precautions on the health front will also be taken.

Welcoming the initiative of the municipality, observers hoped that the channel would no longer be a source of concern.

Pointing out that it had come into being about three decades ago consequent to a deluge in 1978 which had played havoc and claimed several lives, they said that its main purpose was to facilitate free flow of storm water and prevent low-lying areas from getting flooded.

Regrettably for the past several years it was not serving its purpose fully.On the contrary, it had become an eyesore and a health threat.

People were reluctant to walk along the channel and also looked at it warily during heavy rains.Several lakhs of rupees spent over the years on desilting the channel notwithstanding, its condition has not improved.

While the people are blaming the municipality and other departments for the sorry state of affairs, officials are attributing its present condition to lack of resources and poor civic sense among both the local people and tourists. They said that it was one of the most misused civic amenities in this hill station.

It has become a dumping place for all kinds of refuse and at many places it has been converted into an open air public convenience. The people should help in keeping it clean, they added.