Members of non-governmental organisation Vaigai Nathi Makkal Iyakkam staged a protest at the Collectorate by wearing cattle-faced masks to highlight their demand to stop the letting of sewage into the Vaigai river at several places.
Claiming that there were 242 industries of various sizes along the entire stretch of the river from Theni to Ramanathapuram, the protesters alleged the effluents and sewage from these companies were let into the river. The protesters also alleged that the worst-affected was a nine-km stretch in Madurai city, in which sewage from households, hospitals and various other places were let into the Vaigai. “Madurai Corporation and the district administration, which should act against this, are not taking stringent action,” said M.R. Sudarshan, a functionary of the organisation. Highlighting that pollution and depletion of the Vaigai had lead to worsening of the groundwater table in Madurai district as well, the protesters urged the officials to take stringent measures to revive the river.