Clearing encroachments along Vaigai is need of the hour
The Hindu
Fear of flooding grips Madurai as Vaigai river filled with foreign plants. Activists, farmers demand restoration of river from encroachments. Thirupathi suggests MGNREGA workers to remove plants. Vaigai narrowed due to residential, commercial buildings. Madurai Corp's Smart City project to build walls along river channel dangerous. Wastewater from pumping station let into river. Officials urged to learn from Chennai, Kerala floods and act accordingly. Mega cleaning exercise of Vaigai needed.
With the rainy season nearing, the fear of flooding has again caught up with the residents of Madurai. The 12-km-Vaigai river stretch flowing in the city could be seen filled with foreign plants varieties, particularly water hyacinth and seemai karuvelam (Prosopis Juliflora).
Restoration of the Vaigai from all forms of encroachments has been one of the key demands of activists and farmers of the district. A farmer named M. Thirupathi, who has been vocal about the Vaigai water being stolen for industrial uses, said, the government’s zero attention on the river had paved way for all forms of exploitation.
“The foreign varieties of plants in the Vaigai inside the city make the water unusable. These plants turn clean water sludgy giving it a dark black colour,” he added.
This not only spoils the quality of water but also hinders the anti-flooding activities during heavy rains paving way for another major floods similar to the 1993 floods, he said.
Mr. Thirupathi suggested that the service Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers could be used to remove the plants from the river.
Only in Vilangudi and a few other places, the breadth of the river is around 380 meters, in the rest of the places, it got narrowed down due to encroachments caused by both residential and commercial buildings, said Vaigai M. Rajan, coordinator, Vaigai Nathi Makkal Iyyakam.
“The places where the river is narrowed down, the water during floods will break through all the obstructions thereby causing a huge destruction to the city structure,” he added.