Private buses too add to pollution of Tamirabarani

Several vehicles are cleaned in the perennial river every day

Omni and tourist buses parked on the banks of Tamirabarani to be washed in the river water near North bypass road at Udayarpatti in Tirunelveli.

TIRUNELVELI

The Tamirabarani, which is quenching the thirst of a few million people in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar districts, is being polluted by a huge quantity of domestic and industrial waste every day. To further pollute the perennial river, omni and tourist bus crew clean the vehicles in the river without any restriction.

The river has transformed Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi into major rice producers. But, domestic and industrial wastes are being dumped in the river for the past several decades with the knowledge of official machinery.

Though various awareness programmes are conducted to highlight the need for conserving the Tamirabarani, no concrete measure has been taken. Even Tirunelveli Corporation is yet to commence the second phase of underground drainage project to save the river from being polluted by sewage as the State government is yet to release funds for the project.

After poor South-west and North-east monsoons in the districts last year, water level in Papnasam, Manimuthar and Servalar dams, the prime reservoirs of Tirunelveli district, have insignificant quantity of water, which will be sufficient to meet drinking water needs only till April-end.

The river has now become a narrow stream. And, domestic, commercial and industrial effluents and sewage have polluted the river further. To make things worse, private buses are being cleaned on its banks.

On reaching Tirunelveli from far-off places like Chennai and Bangalore, the vehicles are taken very close the watercourse near the river bridge on North Bypass Road at Udaiyarpatti in the mornings and washed. The synthetic mats spread inside the buses are also being washed in the river water.

“A minimum of 15 buses are washed in the river every day. While a few of the bus crew wash the vehicle with water, many others use some cleaning agents or washing powders. The used foamy water, mixed with oil, enters the river, polluting it further,” said a trader having a shop in the area.

A Corporation official said the urban civic body, which adopted a resolution in the past to slap fine on those who dumped debris and waste in the river and irrigation channels, would give due attention to curb this menace. “We’ll hold a meeting with officials of revenue and public works departments soon to discuss this issue,” he said.