Students, public wade through sewage daily to cross Palar
As the rains stopped and temperature went up, the river path is now filled with sewage and hence those wanting to reach the other bank have to perforce wade through the sewage.
VELLORE: More than 1,000 persons, including school students, in addition to two wheelers wade daily through sewage in the Palar river to reach Kangeyanallur from Sathuvachari. Though a bridge was planned across the river to connect both sides, the scheme received a setback when the river was flooded last year.
Crossing the river is time saving as otherwise the residents have to use a roundabout road route entailing a total distance of more than 10 km. The temporary bridge created by laying a mud road over three cement pipes after last year’s flood was rendered useless as the pipes silted after an increase in the level this year and water taking a different course.
As the rains stopped and temperature went up, the river path is now filled with sewage and hence those wanting to reach the other bank have to perforce wade through the sewage.
Guna, a parent in Sathuvachari revealed that local students were admitted to separate boys and girls government higher secondary schools on the Kangeyanallur side due to lack of proper discipline and education in the coed government HSS on the Sathuvachari side.
“Today it is common to see girl students pulling up their dresses when they cross the stretch of sewage. We wonder why no action has been taken despite the Kangeyanallur side coming under Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan’s Katpadi constituency and the Sathuvachari side coming under Vellore MLA P Karthikeyan,” Guna added.
So irked were locals by the lack of action by either the local body or councillors that they decided to pool funds to use a JCB to move the silted-up pipes to a new position across the sewage. But, wiser counsel prevailed when it was revealed that it was better to approach officials to get the job done. “We are now waiting to jointly approach the Corporation officials,” Ramachandran a local said. Although a petition was handed over to Vellore Collector P Kumaravel Pandian some time ago on this issue, his response was a non-committal. “We shall look into it,” he said.
