The Gedilam river bed is being cleared of the outgrowths for a length of three km from the sea mouth in Cuddalore, much ahead of the onset of the north-east monsoon. The clearing is done between the Khammimpettai and the Anna bridges.
Commercial Taxes Minister M.C.Sampath inaugurated the works recently in the presence of District Collector S.Suresh Kumar, Cuddalore Municipal Chairman C.K.Subramanian, Cuddalore MP A.Arunmozhithevan and others.
The riverbed has been covered with karuvela maram (prosopis juliflora) and other weeds that have virtually narrowed down the river to a small drainage. The residents of Cuddalore town have heaved a sigh of relief by the de-weeding operation now underway near the confluence point of the Gedilam with the Bay of Bengal. However, they feel that ad hoc measures would not help tide over the problems of recurring floods in the town.
General Secretary of the Federation of All Residents’ Associations in Cuddalore M.Maruthavanan told The Hindu that just removing the outgrowths superficially would not solve the problem of inundation.
The weeds that had run over almost the entire riverbed could be totally eliminated by using weedicides that would creep into the root system and scorch plants, thus preventing their multiplication.
Moreover, the plastic bags discarded in the river water settle down at the roots of the plants and get covered by mud, thereby causing damage to ecology. Mr Maruthavanan emphasised the point that it was the long-standing wish of the citizens of Cuddalore that the entire river bed should be desilted to enable unhindered flow of water.
While doing so the sea mouth that remains slightly elevated should be carefully dealt with. If the sea mouth is levelled up it would lead to sea water incursion turning the Gedilam waters saline. The citizens were of the view that desilting operation coupled with cleansing operation was definitely the need of the hour.
