The public consultation meeting on the restoration of Adyar river, conducted by Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT) at Anakaputhur on Wednesday, ended in commotion. Some of the participants wanted the government agencies to come out with a white paper for the resettlement of slum dwellers on the riverbank.
The meeting, conducted to hear the views of the public on restoring Adyar river in three phases, turned into a forum for complaints, with residents raising issues of garbage dumping, encroachments, release of sewage water and blocking of water channels.
General secretary of the Federation of Associations of Anakaputhur and Pammal, E. Arumugham, said the greatest source of pollution was untreated effluents. The beautification of the river will not work until action is taken against sewage discharge and garbage dumping, he said.
A brief presentation about the river and the beautification measures to be taken up was made. Summing up the issues, project officer, CRRT, V. Kalaiarasan, said the suggestions put forth at the meeting would be included in the draft detail plan and, after a consultation with government agencies, a draft final report would be prepared and submitted to the government.
“The question of resettlement of slum dwellers did not arise in this project and the fear of slum dwellers being evicted is unwarranted,” he said.
