Angry residents of Moulivakkam and Kundrathur took to the main junction of Porur-Kundrathur stretch to protest against the commercial establishments here in the locality on 3 April.
The locals allege that drilling of excessive borewells by these firms has led to water shortage in the area. The residents have been facing this problem for a long time now and News Today too has reported the issue several times.
These private establishments suck underwater and sell them, and this has drastically echoed in the reduction of groundwater table, alleged the protesters. They demanded that these private firms must be shut down. Porur was an area where the groundwater was available at just 30 to 40 feet, but now has gone down to 200 to 300 feet.
In a recent interaction with this paper, Mookambigai Nagar Residential Welfare Association members said that they had submitted several petitions against the commercial establishments in the locality for having dug up a number of borewells.
Although the members have been raising their voice against this issue for more than 10 years, no action is said to taken yet. The residents of Metha Nagar, Kundrathur, claimed that more than 1 lakh litre of water is being drawn by these companies every year, and at certain residential areas, the borewell is dug up to 500 feet deep. Sasi Kumar, who has been residing here for over five years, said, “We have already taken this issue to the district collector, Pollution Control Board and Corporation, but to no avail.”
“Although the landowner claims that he has proper permission from the revenue department to pump out water, no proper documents have been provided from their side,” rued Sasi Kumar.
Commuters faced the brunt of the protest as it created a huge traffic jam along the stretch. The police arrived at the spot and after nearly two hours of negotiation dispersed the crowd. The personnel also promised to take immediate action.