“Toilets should not be used as dustbins.” With this observation, the Municipal Chairman, R. Rajendran, appealed to the hoteliers here to prevent the sewer system from getting clogged.
Presiding over an interaction among municipal officials, councillors and hotel and restaurant owners organised here on Thursday to create awareness about the need to equip all buildings with diaphragm chambers, he said that the government had made it clear that people should not be used to remove blocks in the Underground Sewerage System (UGSS) or septic tanks. Accordingly, the practice had been banned in the hill station.
Henceforth, effluents should be let into the UGSS only through diaphragm chambers constructed by the building owners.
Pointing out that sewerage lines were being blocked mainly because of toilets being used as rubbish dumps, he asked the participants to ensure that solid waste was put in separate containers. He added that most of the solid waste came from hotels.
The Commissioner (in-charge), B. Ramoorthy, said that there were about 238 hotels and lodges here. Apart from them, there were schools and hospitals. Only 14 buildings had so far built diaphragm chambers.
Referring to the items which were clogging drains, he regretted that recently the municipal workers had come across a human foetus. The scheme was being implemented for the good of the people and the town. The diaphragms should be in place within 15 days, he said.
The Vice-Chairman, J. Ravikumar, said that without the cooperation of the people the scheme cannot be implemented successfully.
Councillor K.A. Mustaffa said that awareness about the scheme should be enhanced particularly among those in charge of hospitals.
