Residents clean-up drainage canal

Stating that the corporation had failed to clean the drainage canal for the past six months resulting in carry bags and plastic bottles clogging the drains, residents of Thayumanavar Street in Kollampalayam deployed an excavator and removed the waste materials on Saturday.

Residents said that hundreds of houses were located near the canal that runs for many kms carrying sewage from households. All these years, residents dumped municipal solid waste, including plastic waste, in the canal resulting in frequent clogging.

“During rainy season, overflowing canal is a major concern for us and the civic body failed to remove the bushes and the waste or desilt it,” said a resident.

She said that water in borewells and wells had become contaminated due to the drain and many complain of skin diseases. “We were asking the officials to clean the drain for many months. Since, the situation turned worse, 16 families collected money and deployed the machine for cleaning”, said a resident.

Waste materials removed from the drain were dumped along the road and residents, condemning the corporation, besieged the garbage collection vehicle on Saturday.

Later, corporation officials arrived at the spot and held talks with the residents.

Officials said that all the excavators were deployed for controlling the fire at the compost yard at Vendipalayam and added that they will deploy a tractor to remove the waste dumped on the road. Officials also assured to clean the drain regularly. Later, the protest was withdrawn.