Chennai: Illegal operation curbed, tankers avoid Chromepet
Shruti Suresh | TNN | Updated: Apr 8, 2019, 05:49 IST
Metrowater has been pumping water from the Sholavarm reservoir into the one in Red Hills for about a week. CHENNAI: Frustrated with the illegal extraction of groundwater from the decrepit premises of Indra Cotton Mills in Chromepet, residents around the mill in MIT Gate area shot a video of the activity and shared it with a civic activist two weeks ago. After the video was shared on social media, Kancheepuram district revenue officials disconnected power supply to the mill, putting a halt to the extraction.
Private tanker operators whose lucrative operations were affected have now rallied against residents and stopped water supply to all residents in the area. Residents are now forced to buy water from other farther localities paying much higher rates.
The rampant extraction has reduced the groundwater available in the area, residents said. “Till about 10 days ago, there was heavy movement of lorries inside the abandoned premises daily. After the video made the illegal extraction public, there was an inspection by revenue officials,” said Sudharshan (name changed), a resident who lives near the mill.
There were three borewells on mill premises and water was being extracted at a depth of 600ft by the tankers, he said quoting a security guard posted at the mill. “Lorries would make at least 50 to 60 trips on a single day,” he said. “Now, since there has not been any extraction for the last few days, we get some water in our borewells, which had gone dry. But this is not enough to fill our tanks and we still depend on tankers.”
Another resident who lives opposite the mill said though the extraction has been stopped temporarily, owners of private tankers had rallied together and decided not to provide water to the hundreds of houses located within the vicinity of the mill. “We used to get 6,000 litres from these tankers at Rs 600 to Rs 700. Now, we have to call tankers from Vandalur, who charge double the cost because of the distance,” said the resident requesting anonymity. “More than 300 families have been affected,” said Sudharshan.
Kancheepuram collectorate officials said a report had been submitted to the collector. “We have put a temporary halt on the extraction of water. We too are busy with elections and are not sure how to intervene in the matter with tanker operators,” said an official, indicating that action against operators was taken to pacify residents ahead of the election.
Private tanker operators whose lucrative operations were affected have now rallied against residents and stopped water supply to all residents in the area. Residents are now forced to buy water from other farther localities paying much higher rates.
The rampant extraction has reduced the groundwater available in the area, residents said. “Till about 10 days ago, there was heavy movement of lorries inside the abandoned premises daily. After the video made the illegal extraction public, there was an inspection by revenue officials,” said Sudharshan (name changed), a resident who lives near the mill.
There were three borewells on mill premises and water was being extracted at a depth of 600ft by the tankers, he said quoting a security guard posted at the mill. “Lorries would make at least 50 to 60 trips on a single day,” he said. “Now, since there has not been any extraction for the last few days, we get some water in our borewells, which had gone dry. But this is not enough to fill our tanks and we still depend on tankers.”
Another resident who lives opposite the mill said though the extraction has been stopped temporarily, owners of private tankers had rallied together and decided not to provide water to the hundreds of houses located within the vicinity of the mill. “We used to get 6,000 litres from these tankers at Rs 600 to Rs 700. Now, we have to call tankers from Vandalur, who charge double the cost because of the distance,” said the resident requesting anonymity. “More than 300 families have been affected,” said Sudharshan.
Kancheepuram collectorate officials said a report had been submitted to the collector. “We have put a temporary halt on the extraction of water. We too are busy with elections and are not sure how to intervene in the matter with tanker operators,” said an official, indicating that action against operators was taken to pacify residents ahead of the election.
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