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.