District Collector R. Sukumar has instructed the Corporation authorities and the heads of other civic bodies to slap fine on those who dump waste in the Tamirabharani river.

As the discarding of old clothes in the Tamirabharani at Papanasam by the devotees visiting Sri Papanasa Swami Temple after taking dip in the river as the mark of washing off their sins and the uncontrolled mixing of sewage from the habitations on the banks of the river are causing serious pollution, Dr. Sukumar visited the pollution points at Papanasam recently. He, while appealing to the devotees to discard their old clothes only in designated spots for easy removal of this waste, had instructed the Vickramasingapuram municipality to impose fine on the polluters of the river and submit a report in this connection.

During the meeting held at the Collectorate on Monday evening to review the action taken against the polluters and the steps initiated for preventing pollution of the Tamirabharani, Mr.. Sukumar asked the officials to submit reports in this connection.

The Vickramasingapuram municipality officials replied that ₹26,000 had been collected as fine from the polluters of Tamirabharani in the past 4 days.

Mr. Sukumar said the urban local bodies such as Vickramasingapuram, Ambasamudram, Mukkoodal, other civic bodies on the bank of the river, habitations like Mela Naththam, Karuppanthurai, C.N. Village, Vannarpet, Manimurtheeswaram, Arugankulam and Naranammalpuram should deploy teams to check dumping of waste in the Tamirabharani.

“This action should start from Tuesday to save the river that supplies drinking water to lakhs of population. In Tirunelveli Corporation, the polluters should be fined from ₹500 to ₹2,000 and the Corporation should continue to monitor the polluters,” Mr. Sukumar said.

Corporation Commissioner Monika Rana, District Revenue Officer M. Durai, Joint Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department Kavitha Priyadharshini, Executive Engineer of Water Resources R. Govindaraju and others participated in the meeting.