A tank’s tussle with hygiene

‘It is only time till all aquatic life cease to exist inside Oomachikulam tank ’

July 18, 2018 08:22 am | Updated 08:22 am IST - MADURAI

Located 20 minutes away from Madurai city is Oomachikulam, an area part of Chettikulam village panchayat and soon-to-be end of the district’s first elevated highway. Oomachikulam village too shows signs of urban life seeping through its trees and plotted land constructions. There is a set of establishments selling a variety of clothes and a small yet bustling market. Little but all of the agricultural land has been covered in pink, white, blue and differently ombred houses with two storeys at least.

An important water source, the Oomachikulam tank, however, suffers the effects of this recent sprawling urbanisation. The tank that spreads over 20 acres is now littered with plastic bags, biodegradable waste and even old rusted cars. Though the tank is largely dry, one can see a steady stream of sewage sliding into the waterbody. The tank hides behind the prominent Chettikulam bus stop, inviting tonnes of floating population which uses the bunds of the water body as toilet. Experts say that it is only time till all aquatic life ceases to exist inside the tank because of the plastic inflow.

Oomachikulam tank is mostly surrounded by residents of Shastri Nagar. The residents formed a welfare association many years ago and one of its main objectives is ‘tank maintenance’ because they felt their groundwater too would be affected.

A resident for 25 years, S. Mallika, says that Shastri Nagar was rife with greenery till about 15 years ago. Oomachikulam was filled with paddy and banana fields. Water would flow into the body through the fifth branch of the Periyar Main Canal with a diversion from G. Mettupatti into the tank for the double crop region. Now, with a population of 5,000 people, Shastri Nagar is purely residential. Mrs. Mallika says that many people have been steadily affected by various diseases over the past year.

Vanitha Krishnamurthy, a member of the association, says that over the years the organisation has cleaned the juliflora plants and desilted portions of the tank using earth movers.

“A year ago, Member of Parliament R. Gopalakrishnan adopted Oomachikulam village and attempted to make changes. As part of his development initiatives, he constructed a road leading to Shastri Nagar. Though the road work was complete, the politician did not bother about the steep drop leading to a fall inside the tank. The residents collected money (an average of about ₹ 1,000 per family) and reconstructed the bund by padding it with a lot of sand,” she says.

She adds that the association deploys earth movers every six months to clear the garbage and the juliflora growth.

“If there are more garbage bins or toilets, it will ease the burden on public hygiene,” she says.

More such citizen initiatives are the backbone of tank protection, says P. Dhanasekaran, former Village Administrative Officer of Chettikulam panchayat. He says that the drought between 2015 and 2017 caused major disruptions to the tank.

Now, water is only stored for rearing fish. He says that public awareness is very poor in villages as only a few people take charge. “Unless people realise that its about their own future, little progress will take place,” he says.

An expert from PWD, who does not wish to be named, says that such regular effort will ensure a future for the tank. He says that allowing sewage from Shastri Nagar to flow into the tank will result in polluting groundwater. Though it might seem like there is sufficient and continuous supply of groundwater, it is only a matter of time for things to go south and the wells to dry up. The polluted groundwater will eventually smell and become unfit for use, he says. He adds that mosquito breeding will also increase because the local fish will not consume the larvae.

An official from the panchayat union office says that about 20 workers were earlier deployed to clean and maintain the tank under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. They also went door-to-door to collect garbage to avoid dumping on the sides of the tank, he says.

“In the last couple of months, there have been changes under MGNREGA. We have been asked to focus on asset creation rather than maintenance of existing ones. District officials regularly check for open defecation but it is still a problem,” he feels.

He adds that more animators will be deployed around the area to educate the public about hygiene. The district administration will look into the plea for more dustbins and public toilets in the neighborhood.

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