Chettinaickanepatti rural tank, the only drinking water source of Chettinayakkanpatti village, is highly polluted owing to indiscriminate discharge of industrial waste and sewage water into it.
Spread over 15 acres, the tank has also been supplying water to irrigate 200 acres, recharging many open wells and bore wells and feeding sizable cattle population.
“Effects of water pollution are devastating not only on the people but also on animals, fish, and birds. Pollution diminishes the aesthetic quality of the tank and contaminated water destroys aquatic life. It also causes health hazards for the people. No one in the village is spared,” says R. Selvam, resident of the village.
With inadequate effluent treatment facilities, small and tiny industries around the village conveniently let the industrial effluents and toilet discharge into the tank.
Untreated sewage water from R.M. Colony, Vivekanandha Nagar, Chinnayapuram, EB Colony, Arivu Thirukovil area and Rajakkapatti also reaches this tank.
“We have been struggling for more than a decade. Now, things are getting from bad to worse. The foul smell emanating from the waterbody is unbearable. We are tired of taking up the issue with officials, and when we petitioned the Collector he deputed an officer to inspect the spot. The official inspected the tank and went back. Nothing had been done so far,” says farmer M. Velmurugan.
The worst affected are the residents of Muthalamman Temple Street. “We live in dark. We cannot switch on the lights in our houses at night. After 6 p.m., all mosquitoes and insects swarm into the houses, settle on food and people. Even fumigation does not help,” says A. Meenakshi Ammal.
“We sit under the street light and eat mosquito-infested food,” she adds.
All two-wheeler riders switch off their headlights when they approach the road to avoid swarms of mosquitoes, she adds. Petitions were also submitted to Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board officials. Even the village panchayat did not take any effort to solve the crisis, complain residents.
Farmers and local people appeal to the authorities to construct a separate channel to carry drainage water from the tank and protect it from being polluted.
All two-wheeler riders switch off their headlights when they approach the road to avoid swarms of mosquitoes
