Tirunelveli Member of Parliament Robert Bruce submitted before High Court that the Centre agreed to release funds for cleaning Tamirabharani and the State had to prepare a detailed project report
Vaigai and Tamirabharani, the two important rivers in southern Tamil Nadu, mentioned in the Sangam literature, hold an important place in Tamil civilisation. Excavations have proved that civilisations existed on the banks of the two rivers for over 2,000 years.
Though holding an important place in history, there was a need to take effective steps to rejuvenate the rivers as they were grappling with serious issues such as pollution. The same has been flagged by activists, who said that the situation was alarming and effective steps should be taken as expeditiously as possible.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has been hearing a number of public interest litigation petitions filed by activists seeking a direction to the authorities to rejuvenate the two rivers.
In March 2024, the court passed orders on a public interest litigation petition filed by writer S. Kamaraj alias Muthalakurichi Kamaraj of Thoothukudi district. He sought a direction to the authorities to prevent the discharge of sewage into Tamirabharani in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts. A series of directions were issued to the authorities.
The Public Works Department was directed to identify and conduct a spot inspection of the places where sewage was let into the river and the local bodies were directed to verify and take initiatives to prevent sewage mixing into the river on a war footing. The authorities were directed to take steps to identify mandapams and padithurais on the banks of the river and renovate them.
A contempt petition was filed seeking a direction to the authorities to comply with the direction of the court. The court expressed concern over the river being polluted right from the source. The authorities were directed to file a report on the action plan to identify the cause of pollution, to prevent it and rejuvenate the river. The authorities were directed to create awareness of the importance of preserving waterbodies among the public.
In December 2024, the court initiated suo motu proceedings following news reports on the pollution of Vaigai river. The news reports were based on a study carried out by the Madurai Nature Cultural Foundation. Notice was ordered to Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram Collectors.
Considering the gravity of the issue, the State government should come up with a report not only identifying the causes of pollution but also an action plan to deal with the problem, the court observed.
In a public interest litigation petition, an advocate R. Manibharathi of Madurai said that a special committee should be constituted for conducting an inspection of the places where sewage was let into Vaigai river and prevent the flow of sewage, untreated liquid waste and drainage.
- Rajan, Chief Organiser of Vaigai Nadhi Makkal Iyakkam, said that though the number of locations where sewage water drained into Vaigai river in Madurai city was reduced from 68 to 36 places, the volume of discharge has not gone down. In many places, direct discharge of sewage into the river has highly polluted it, he said.
To prevent the discharge, Madurai Corporation along with civic body organisations and private companies focusing on water treatment held a study in various places of the river, he noted.
“In the study, the two companies which did the study suggested installing pumping stations and treatment plants to solve the issue of water pollution in Vaigai,” Mr. Rajan said.
Though there were already two treatment plants, they were not operating to their full capacity and to address this, many treatment plants to treat water from households and direct it outside the city for other usages like agriculture should be implemented, he suggested.
Steps should be taken to focus on proper discharge of water from households particularly during peak hours, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., he added.
Muthalakurichi Kamaraj said that in the seven-km stretch of Tamirabharani in Tirunelveli city, more than 17 places could be identified where sewage and drainage were mixing in the river water.
In addition, 11 sub-channels from in and around the district, which connects with Tamirabharani river should also be closely monitored to prevent wastewater being let into the river from rural bodies, he added.
To address the issue, the State government should rope in all administrative bodies like corporations, municipalities and panchayats to form a committee for constant monitoring of clean sewage water disposal, he said.
“When only city wastewater discharge is monitored, and the rest are left to pollute, there is no use of chalking out plans to clean the river,” he noted.
As the Union government has said that it had allocated Rs. 7,000 crore for cleaning-up of major rivers in the country, the Tamil Nadu government should prepare a Detailed Project Report for mass-clean-up of Tamirabharani along with other major rivers, he said.
Mr. Kamaraj said that lessons should be taken from London where the challenge to clean Thames river was taken up which was once declared dead and unfit to be used.
When they can step in and put their effort to restore their pride and environment, why cannot a country like India do that in restoring hundreds of rivers flowing here, he asked.
Last week, Tirunelveli Member of Parliament Robert Bruce submitted before the High Court that the Centre had agreed to release the funds for cleaning Tamirabharani and the State had to prepare a detailed project report.
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