A woman’s body was found in a roadside canal in Vaniyambadi on Wednesday.
According to police, Mallika (50), a resident of VMC Colony in Noorullapettai, was a waste plastic vendor and was in the habit of drinking.
She must have fallen into the canal from the parapet wall of a culvert adjoining the canal, in an inebriated condition, they said.
It’s alleged that the Municipality failed to act on the appeal from the public to cover the canal.
When asked about it, Vaniyambadi Municipal Commissioner G.Ananthapadmanaba Sivam told The Hindu that the culvert was built by the highways department and the canal was controlled by the PWD.
Moreover, there was no danger of commuters falling into it, he said. In order to enable sanitary workers to clear the silt and garbage that may chock the culvert, the canal was not closed.
However, taking the incident into account, the Municipality would take steps to avert such incidents, he added.