In the not-too-distant past, lush-green farmlands and a sprawling lake defined Thiruneermalai for Pugalventhan Venkatesan. Now, the idyllic picture is marred.
“The farmlands attract industrial sewage and the Thiruneermalai lake is dying a slow death with industrial and medical waste and sewage polluting it,” says 27-year-old Pugalventhan.
CHENNAI,TAMIL NADU, 05/09/2019 : FOR DOWN TOWN : Civic Activist Pugalventhan Venkatesan at Thiruneermalai Lake,Pallavaram in Chennai on Thursday.Photo: B. Velankanni Raj/THEHINDU
He is however set on removing the smudges from the picture, and towards this end, two months ago, he formed a neighbourhood collective to free the lake bed of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste. Besides, almost every day, he posts pictures and shares updates about civic issues in the locality.
The trigger
An aerospace engineer by profession, Pugalventhan’s journey as a civic activist started quite unexpectedly about two years ago, when he first noticed a truck unloading sewage into one of the farmlands. He was just driving through the area then.
“I was working in Bengaluru for a few years and got a transfer to Chennai in 2017. I reside in Chitlapakkam but often visited Thiruneermalai to meet friends. On one such drive, I spotted a truck discharging sewage into a farmland. I approached a few local farmers through my friends and learnt that tanker lorries frequently let sewage into the canals adjoining the fields while the authorities turned a blind eye to the issue,” he adds.
He recalls a farmer lamenting how the farming community in Thiruneermalai went from being rice producers to rice buyers from PDS shops.
“Most farmers here don’t own lands; they are leased from the Thiruneermalai Temple Trust. However, without clean water for irrigation, their investment and labour are going down the drain. Tanker operators bring in raw sewage and untreated effluent from tanneries nearby and let it into the canals from morning to night,” he says.
The petitions
Pugalventhan then started sending petitions to various government departments including the Collector’s office in Kancheepuram, Public Works Department (PWD) and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). Last September, the TNPCB, in response to his petition, said that only treated chemical waste from tanneries and other industries were being released.
“However, there was no response to the query on raw sewage. Even letting treated sewage into farmlands affect the crops and water in the lake. The PWD is yet to act on desilting the lake and securing the bunds,” he says.
The campaigns
When Pugalventhan realised that social media platforms had an impact on neighbourhood issues, he started ‘Kadamai Sei Thamizha’, a social media campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He regularly posts pictures and videos about trucks discharging sewage and dumping industrial waste in the farmlands, and medical waste along the lake bed.
“We have sent complaints to government agencies with proof of tankers discharging untreated sewage in Thiruneermalai but no action has been taken. But we are not giving up.”
Pugalventhan also raises awareness among residents of Thiruneermalai against dumping garbage along the lake bed.
“Residential buildings are on the rise here and with the local body not providing a proper waste disposal facility, household trash is also making its way to the lake bed. Along with youngsters from the neighbourhood, I conduct awareness campaigns among the residents against dumping non-biodegradable waste near the lake, and encourage them to segregate at source,” he says.
The clean-ups
When Chennai was battling a severe water crisis this summer, a report from the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), which said that water from Thiruneermalai Lake was unfit for consumption, set the alarm bells ringing.
“CMWSSB had tested the water as part of its efforts to identify additional drinking water sources. The water was found to be heavily polluted. In June, tonnes of fish were floating dead. The canals and the lake bed were choking with plastic and other waste,” he says.
Pugalventhan initiated a clean-up drive in July with just 12 youngsters joining him. The volunteer-count has increased only marginally since. Every weekend, the team of volunteers, who call themselves ‘Thiruneermalai Nanbargal Kuzhu’, picks up plastic and non-biodegradable waste from the lake bunds and send it to the local body which disposes of it in a dumping ground. “We want the PWD to step in and desilt the lake and remove the ‘seemai karuvelam’ trees from the lake area. The clean-ups can be a success only if the Thiruneermalai Town Panchayat puts an end to waste being dumped in the lake. We also need more volunteers to restore the waterbody,” he says.
