Sewage dumping by pvt lorries on vacant sites irks Mudichur residents

CHENNAI: Residents of Mudichur fume over the constant dumping of raw sewage on vacant sites by private tanker lorries. After collecting sewage from the homes in the neighbourhood, they said that tankers dump them on any empty site, instead of taking it to a designated treatment plant.

Since the suburbs don’t have underground drainage facilities, residents hire private tankers to collect the waste from their homes.

In Tambaram Corporation, there are 48 lorries to collect sewage, and over 50 lorries in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts respectively. All of them are supposed to take the sewage to a treatment plant in Pallavaram.

“However, some of them do not take the sewage to the treatment plant. Drivers have told us that their owners tell them to dispose of it on any vacant land where there is no movement of vehicles. Most lorry drivers use the service road of the Outer Ring Road between Mudichur and Vandalur since there are no vehicles at night,” said a resident.

K Ramamoorthy, a resident of Rayapah Nagar in Mudichur concurred and pointed out that this has been going on for years. “We filed many complaints but no action has been taken by government officials. The groundwater is contaminated due to indiscriminate dumping of sewage,” he added. “This is a serious environmental crime that happens regularly but municipal officials and police are silent on the issue.”

Many residents also alleged that they were often threatened by lorry owners who are connected to rowdies and local politicians. Sources in Tambaram and Kancheepuram corporations said: “GPS devices have been fixed for all the sewage-collecting lorries; they are being monitored by officers. If a lorry is found going to an unwanted place, strict action would be taken immediately.”

Since some of the areas like Mudichur, Varadharajapuram, and Rayapah Nagar fall under the village panchayat, GPS facility is not available, which the lorry owners misuse.

When contacted, an official from the Kancheepuram Corporation said: “We’ve formed special squads to monitor the areas where sewage is being disposed of. We’re seizing the vehicles but not imposing any penalty on the owners. Even a few days ago, two sewage lorries were seized for disposing sewage water on the roadside.”