3.2 tonnes of discarded PET bottles blocking channel in Ooty removed

Udhagamandalam: In just a week’s time, Ooty had generated about 3.2 tonnes of waste pet bottles because of the mindless act of tourists.
The pet bottles were collected from the Kodappamund channel which is running through the heart of the town. The channel is meant for channelling stream water from the Kodappamund area all the way to Ooty Lake. The channel was cleaned and silted a week ago in the wake of red alert issued by the IMD. But to the surprise of the district administration, the channel was found overflowing at two or three points. On an inspection on Monday, it was found that the channel was blocked with loads of pet bottles. The recent rain had brought all the litter into the channel.

In the wake of generation of shockingly enormous quantity of pet bottles and keeping in mind the ecology of the hill district, the Nilgiris district administration has proposed to have a check point for plastic bottles at Kallar Junction and other seven check posts in the district.

“It is very shocking to notice the Kodappamund channel being accumulated with huge quantity of waste pet bottles. It is because of littering on the roadsides mainly by tourists. The recent rain had washed away the bottles littered into the channel,” Nilgiris collector J Innocent Divya told TOI.

“In a positive note, a message of responsible tourism will be delivered by checking the tourists’ vehicles at Kallar Junction and other seven check-posts which are the portals to the Nilgiris. Hence, we have proposed a plan of deputing eight teams involving police and revenue officials at eight check-posts. Tourists have to leave the plastic pet bottles and other plastic items at the check-posts,” Divya said.

Five water ATMs will be installed in association with BPCL in the town to minimize pet bottle wastage. “Littering of any plastic, including pet bottles, in Ooty will attract fine,” she said.