Stop diverting drainage water into river: Madurai Bench of the Madras HC

Madurai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday passed an interim injunction directing the authorities of various departments to stop a project that is underway to divert drainage water flowing in Kannadian Channel into Paillaiyar Odai which in turn falls into the Tamirabarani river.

The division bench comprising Justices M.V. Muralidharan and N. Seshasayee issued injunction on a petition filed by A.Manivannan of Ambasumdram, Tirunelveli seeking court intervention to prevent polluting of the river through this project because Tamirabarani is the main source of drinking water and irrigation for the people of five southern districts.

The state government had passed a government order dated April 13, 2015 to divert the drainage water flowing in Kannadian channel by constructing a RCC barrage and connecting it to Pillaiyar Odai. The project was aimed at letting out drainage and sewage water of Kallidaikurachi into the river and the authorities also announced a contract for '1.65 crore for implementing it, said the petitioner.

A petition opposing this was already filed and the case was pending disposal.
Meanwhile, the authorities had stopped this project temporarily after the public raised opposition to it and local body also passed a resolution on March 4, 2016 for stopping the project.

The petitioner also made representation to the Tirunelveli district collector on this issue, but he did not receive a positive response. However, he has reliably learnt that the authorities decided to revive the project on April 2.

He also contended that the project is being implemented without obtaining environment clearance. As implementation of this work would cause ecological damage, the petitioner made several representations to the PWD secretary, Chennai and the chief engineer, water resources department, Madurai, but in vain and hence approached the court for remedy.