Citizen Connect: Plastic waste, residents’ apathy choke canal in Lotus Colony

The stench from the water body nearby is nauseating, said Aravind Balaji, a commuter who takes the route to go to Adyar. “Passing through the stretch is very difficult because of the foul smell emanating from it. 

Initially, the canal used to be cleaned regularly. But, it has been around eight months since they cleaned it,” he said. The Nandanam canal is linked to the Adyar River through the Mambalam canal. Filled with trash and plastic bags, the canal’s flow is restricted. 

Stella Franklin (48), a resident of Lotus Colony 5th Main Road, who has been reaching out to her neighbours to cooperate, said “I have tried all possible ways to make the residents understand the importance of keeping the canal clean from our end. I have regularly met neighburs and spoken to them about the indiscriminate dumping of plastic bags in the waterbody. But some just don’t care. Once in six months, the canal should be cleaned. The floodwater in 2015 had cleaned the canal to a major extent. The prevailing stagnant water encourages the breeding of mosquitoes.”

The garbage has been there for a quite long time and has started to give out leachate, which is sliding into the canal that will carry water during floods, said Ramya K (37) a homemaker. 

However, the Corporation officials said that they have been meeting residents across the city, including those in Lotus Colony, to sensitise them about the importance of keeping the canals clean. When contacted, a Zone 9 official said, “We will look into the problem.”