Amid rising concern over environmental pollution in Coimbatore, city police have arrested a 20-year-old employee of a restaurant for allegedly dumping garbage in the Valankulam lake in the city.
An employee of a popular restaurant in Gandhipuram, S Thangaraj (20), was caught red-handed as he dumped restaurant garbage into the Valankulam canal on late Friday evening, police said. A police team from Race Course police station who were on patrol duty near the canal picked him up and took him to the station.
"Our police team caught him as he was dumping the waste into the canal," said TH Ganesan, inspector, Race Course police station. Thangaraj was booked under section 277 of the Indian Penal Code for polluting public spring or reservoir and rendering it unfit for public usage.' If convicted, he can be sentenced to a jail term of three months or slapped with a penalty of `500 or both. The accused has now been let off on bail.
Once a clean, shimmering lake and a home to migratory birds, the Valankulam lake has now turned into a dumping site for construction debris, untreated sewage and garbage. Maintenance of eight city lakes including Valankulam was recently handed over to the city corporation by the Public Works Department. The corporation has mooted a `127 crore proposal to privatise the maintenance of the lakes and convert them to tourist spots, triggering objections from environmentalists who insist that wetlands should not be used for entertainment.
Surrounded by greenery and forests, Coimbatore has been witnessing protests from its eco-conscious residents over felling of trees and dumping of waste in wetlands. In a landmark ruling to save greenery in the city, the civil court in its order on February 24 asked a city resident, who had cut down trees in an apartment complex, to pay a fine of Rs 12,000 and plant 40 saplings in the city.
An employee of a popular restaurant in Gandhipuram, S Thangaraj (20), was caught red-handed as he dumped restaurant garbage into the Valankulam canal on late Friday evening, police said. A police team from Race Course police station who were on patrol duty near the canal picked him up and took him to the station.
"Our police team caught him as he was dumping the waste into the canal," said TH Ganesan, inspector, Race Course police station. Thangaraj was booked under section 277 of the Indian Penal Code for polluting public spring or reservoir and rendering it unfit for public usage.' If convicted, he can be sentenced to a jail term of three months or slapped with a penalty of `500 or both. The accused has now been let off on bail.
Once a clean, shimmering lake and a home to migratory birds, the Valankulam lake has now turned into a dumping site for construction debris, untreated sewage and garbage. Maintenance of eight city lakes including Valankulam was recently handed over to the city corporation by the Public Works Department. The corporation has mooted a `127 crore proposal to privatise the maintenance of the lakes and convert them to tourist spots, triggering objections from environmentalists who insist that wetlands should not be used for entertainment.
Surrounded by greenery and forests, Coimbatore has been witnessing protests from its eco-conscious residents over felling of trees and dumping of waste in wetlands. In a landmark ruling to save greenery in the city, the civil court in its order on February 24 asked a city resident, who had cut down trees in an apartment complex, to pay a fine of Rs 12,000 and plant 40 saplings in the city.
1 comment:
Really a gr8 job...As a resident of this city,we also must keep our land eco friendly away from all pollutions .If we see anybody spoiling our city we must try to correct them...
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