CHENNAI: Walkers at the Korattur lake were in for a shock when they saw a man dumping what turned out to be expired medicines and syrup bottles in a weir of the water body on Saturday morning. When some of them raised an alarm, the person immediately ran away from the spot. Residents plan to lodge a complaint with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) on Monday.
S Sekharan, founder of the Korattur Aeri Padhukappu Makkal Iyakkam (KAPMI), a residents’s association working to protect the water body, said the weir, a small barricade, is located close to Canal Bank Road. Normally, domestic waste packed in dustbin covers and occasionally carcasses of cattle are dumped in and around the lake. This is the first time that expired medicines have been dumped, with the perpetrators burning it to destroy any evidence, he said. A half burned box found in the pile had the address of a pharma company operating out of Anna Nagar West Extension, Sekharan said.
State PWD authorities when contacted said the dumping of waste is a regular phenomenon. A senior official said the dumping of domestic waste in the open space near the Red Hills reservoir was a major problem. Several attempts to stop this problem proved futile and finally a fence was erected on this side, which stopped the people from dumping garbage, the official said. A TNPCB official said the local body authorities should file a complaint with police and initiate action against the violators. The environment engineers attached to the TNPCB would then visit the spot where the dumping of expired medicines has been allegedly spotted. Further course of action will be initiated accordingly, the official said. Of late, incidents of dumping bio-medical waste and expired medicines on river banks have gone up considerably. Stringent action against violators need to be initiated, say activists.
