The Udhagamandalam Municipality has served notices on owners of 1,000 houses, 30 hotels and 15 cottages located along the Kodappamund Channel to stop dumping waste into the once pristine channel that drains into the Ooty Lake.
C. Ravi, Commissioner (in-charge), Udhagamandalam Municipality, said that the residential buildings, hotels and cottages have a little over two weeks to install diaphragm chambers, which will act as filters and prevent solid waste from entering the channel. The waste water from the buildings will then be connected to the underground drainage lines that will take the water to the Sewage Treatment Plant, which will purify the water before it drains into the Ooty Lake.
“Based on the relevant sections of the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act of 1939, any hotels that do not conform to the instructions will have their licences cancelled, while water supply would be disconnected for residential buildings,” said Mr. Ravi.
The Kodappamund Channel that runs for a length of 5.5 km is the only source of water to the Ooty Lake. The channel has become extremely polluted due to the dumping of untreated sewage and plastic wastes by locals, tourists as well as commercial establishments.
The municipality had already announced hefty fines on residential and commercial building owners found dumping waste into the channel.
