Coimbatore: While most of the streams and rivers in the Western Ghats are overflowing, an old stream that cuts across the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala has been drying up over time due to sand mining and dumping, near Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: While most of the streams and rivers in the Western Ghats are overflowing, an old stream that cuts across the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala has been drying up over time due to sand mining and dumping, near Coimbatore.
The Kodungarai Pallam stream that runs in the interstate border in Anaikatti is one of the major tributaries of the Bhavani River and joins the mainstream at Kooduthurai where water from Siruvani, Bhavani and Kodungarai meet. Though the stream had been in full flow until about 15 years ago, the water level has steadily dried up over the years.
“Water would run up to 5 to 6 ft in times past but now it is not even knee-deep,” said a local resident.
Locals further claimed that the sad state of the stream was a result of illegal sand mining on the river bed from Tamil Nadu. While the state of Kerala had issued a stern warning and taken strong action against perpetrators, no support was offered from Tamil Nadu to either stop nor issue a warning for those involved in sand mining.
In addition to the sand mining, the stream is also prone to dumping of wastes near the over bridge and it leads to clogging and contamination of water.
“We have been raising complaints with the State authorities to save the river and no concrete action has been taken thus far,” claimed locals.