Chennai: Taking a strict view of private sewer lorries contributing to pollution in Buckingham Canal, the National Green Tribunal here on Wednesday directed authorities to monitor and seize the trucks. Hearing arguments on a petition filed by Jawaharlal Shanmugam, the Bench comprising judicial member Justice P. Jyothimani and expert member R. Nagendran, directed Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to monitor illegal dumping and to take stringent action through the district Collector.
On controlling hyacinth on water, special government pleader Abdul Saleem told the Bench that the only way to prevent it was by plugging sewage outlets. The bench asked counsel, “Sewage provides nutrition to plants. Knowing fully well that plugging outlets is the solution, why are you not doing it.”
The counsel responded that Metrowater had identified 337 outlets emptying sewage into the canal and that process had been initiated to plug 183 of them in two phases. The government pleader added that the board had sufficient capacity to treat sewage generated in the city. “The combined capacity of the sewage treatment plants is 769 MLD whereas the generated sewage is only 530 MLD. But where we are lacking is in the carrying capacity because pipes are small. Metrowater is taking steps to increase size of the pipes and capacity of pumping stations,” Saleem said.
