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Clean-up drive to cause more pollution in Cooum river?
July 28, 2021
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has spent crores of rupees over the years to clean up the Cooum. Now, in the name of restoring it, the Chennai Metro Water has laid sewer lines over the river, risking further pollution of the Cooum through possible leakages.
The Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board has been implementing several projects as part of the Cooum river eco-restoration project. This includes 10 Interception & Diversion (I&D) systems along the river and three modular Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) at Chetpet, College Road, and Maduravoyal, all under various stages of completion. The projects are implemented under the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust.
While laying pipelines through road cuts is an alternate option which might incur additional costs for the board, it has decided to lay the pipes which will pass a few metres above the river bed. “When there is a leakage, sewage will flow right into the river and the public may not even know.
Is this better than the river’s current condition where sewage flows into it from various sources, including stormwater drains?” asked Lakshathipathi A, a resident and civic activist at Mehta Nagar, where an I&D project is being implemented.
‘Acidic sewage on Cooum may erode pipes’
When contacted, a senior metro water official said that I&D and STPs are temporary measures to relieve the river of sewage and that their priority is to strengthen the existing sewage system. "There is no space to lay the pipelines through the roads which is why it is taken through the river. Any leakage is highly unlikely. We are carrying out several measures on priority, including identifying sewage outfalls through stormwater drains," the official said.
He added that Rs 2,371 crore have been allocated for restoring the city's waterways. Asked how maintenance works will be carried out across the river, the official said all safety precautions will be taken for staff to carry out maintenance or repair works.
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