The Revenue, Municipal and Water Resources Department officials have been ordered to list all the encroachments on water bodies at Thandalam Village Panchayat near Tiruvarur.
Makkal Adikaram office-bearer T. Shamugasundaram of Kulithalai in Tiruvarur district filed a petition with Chief Minister Cell that led to this decision.
According to Shanmugasundaram’s plea, the drainage channel along Mannagudi Road was encroached upon in several places thus blocking water flow in the waterway, which has not been desilted for many years.
Additionally, he noted that Vilamal’s quasi-government and private institutions discharged waste into Odampokki, a river used for irrigation by farmers. According to him, tanks as well as other similar water bodies should be cleared of plastics and any other dirt before onset of monsoon.
In response, the Water Resources Department has given certain directives to the District Revenue and Water Resources Department personnel from Tiruvarur and municipality through instructions provided on how they can identify these encroachments onto drains at Thandalai and take necessary actions so as to remove plastics plus garbage from these waters within the area.
