CHENNAI: The Pallavaram municipality would install CCTV cameras around Putheri lake in a week to prevent illegal dumping of garbage into the water body, said municipal commissioner C Mathivanan on Friday.
The move comes after ten truckloads of garbage was dumped in the lake at night on December 30. Residents who noticed it informed police and municipal officials seeking action. A protest was also held as residents suspected that it was the waste from the municipality's transfer station.
Arappor Iyakkam's David Manohar, an activist and resident of the area, said though they filed a complaint no case was register. "There will be CCTV camera footage from shops and streets around the lake. Why are police hesitating to even conduct an inquiry into this? They have just told us it is the municipality that should take action. But there are environmental laws and the Water Act under which they can file an FIR and inquire," he said.
Mathivanan said reports about 25,000 penalty, 1.50lakh compensation and detention of a driver by police were false. "We have no idea who dumped the garbage. Police have checked CCTV camera footages from the nearby areas and said they could not find anything. How can we take action when we do not know who the violators are?" he said. Terming the allegations that the waste was from the municipality baseless, he said if the municipality wanted to dump garbage, they would do so in Pallavaram eri where more than 1.10lakh metric tonne of legacy waste is already dumped.
Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam said the lake was recently desilted and rejuvenated by local NGOs. "It was the duty of police to conduct an inquiry and file an FIR. This is just the beginning. They will fill this lake too and sell it for real estate," he said. He said pollution control board officials too had not taken any action after visiting the site. V Santhanam, an activist, "This is not a one-off case and happening across the city and other municipalities. None of the local bodies take any steps. Just issuing penalties wont suffice," he said.