The Coonoor Municipality has finally begun initiating some proactive measures to prevent waste from being dumped into the Coonoor River.
With the financial assistance of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing of a Coimbatore-based firm, the municipality has installed a chain-link fence along a section of the river and along the Coonoor bridge, near to the bus stand, to discourage and prevent the dumping of waste from the municipal market and nearby households into the river.
Officials from the Coonoor Municipality said that the chain-link fence, installed over a section of the river extends for a distance of 380-feet, and is 7-feet in height. The fence has been installed in a section of the river where the dumping of waste, including medical waste, poultry waste from slaughterhouses, wet and dry waste as well as plastics, is most rampant.
J Raghunathan, Municipal Health Officer, Coonoor Municipality, said that till a couple of decades ago, though the Coonoor River used to get polluted with waste from the market and households along the stream course, the river would be able to clean itself up by the time it reaches the plains of Coimbatore due to aeration and unhindered flow. “But now, in the era of plastic products, the river itself gets clogged, and is unable to flow freely,” he said, adding that he hoped that the fence would play a small part in reducing the amount of waste that enters the river.
Officials said that they were appealing for funds from other private firms as well, as the fence will only cordon off a tenth of the river course that flows through town. “We estimate that at least a kilometer of the river will have to be covered off, to ensure people don’t get a chance to dump their waste into it,” said an official, adding that the entire project could cost anywhere in the region of Rs. 50 lakhs.
Conservationists said that the river, apart from providing water to communities further downstream, as it joins the Bhavani River in Mettupalayam, is also a lifeline of crucial importance to a variety of wildlife, including elephants, that depend on the river for water during most parts of the year.
