Residents up in arms against dumping of waste in Palar
CHENNAI: Residents of Kancheepuram are up in arms against those dumping waste in Palar river bed and thus polluting the water body. They added that the officials are not keen to stop the indiscriminate dumping of waste.
While Kancheepuram village panchayat consists of 51 wards and is the biggest panchayat in the district now. Ten years ago, there were only 40 wards. Three villages along Palar, Sevilimedu, Orikai and Nathampettai joined the municipality only recently.
Residents of these villages said that the quality of maintenance has gone down after joining the Kancheepuram municipality, especially Palar river bed. “Plastic waste is being dumped in the river bed regularly but the officials have not taken any action against the anti-social elements yet,” Ramasamy, a resident, said.
Residents said that when they were under village panchayat, the maintenance was much better and after joining the municipality, no officials are interested to take action.
Ramasamy said, “We approached the officials and even the local police several times. But our efforts were ignored and everything remains the same. Sometimes plastic waste is burnt here.”
When contacted, R Mahendran, Kancheepuram Municipal Commissioner-in-charge, said, “We have formed a team to find those behind such activities and we have also sought help from the police. Soon the anti-social elements would be caught and action will be taken.”