Virtually reduced to a garbage carrier in the face of rampant pollution, the Vaigai river, once the root for the Pandia culture and history of sociology of Pandia Kingdom, is to be completely renovated.
The river flows to a length of 258 km from Varusha Naadu in the Western Ghats to Ramanathapuram coast traversing through the districts of Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram.
According to a PWD official, an advisory committee headed by District Collector L Subramanian and comprising members from the city Corporation, PWD and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board would be formed to guide the clean up plan.
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Corporation Commissioner would be the Deputy Chairman of the committee which would also take help from organisations such as DHANAM, an NGO involved in protecting water resources, an official said.
Lamenting that the river was now being used as a garbage bin where all sorts of wastes from plastic to rubber are dumped, PWD Executive Engineer (Projects) Jayaseelan said officials also planned to create awareness among the people to keep the river clean.
"There is absolutely no marine life in the river due to contamination and stagnation of dirty water," he said.
The river, once known to bring forest flowers down from the hills, now carried garbage and was stinking at many stretches.
"We plan to remove all the human waste and garbage and then we plan to create awareness among the People the need for keeping the river clean," another official said after the meeting held for constituting the advisory committee.
According to information available from city Corporation records, there are enormous unplanned neighbourhoods and buildings, where sewage find their way into the river.
However, with the underground drainage being laid, this problem would be taken care of, Mayor Rajan chellappa said during a recent meeting of officials.
The issue of sewage water getting mixed with drinking water in the city has been raised during every corporation council meeting.
The members also complained that nearly 80 per cent of the river's pollution was the result of raw sewage combined with industrial runoff, which poured millions of liters of waste per day.
