CHENNAI: Bearing the brunt of garbage, discharged sewage, defecation and encroachments on the banks, the Adyar river, once a thriving waterway, has been reduced to a stinking watercourse, with government agencies turning a blind eye to the damage meted out.

Adyar-based civic activist Meera Ravikumar said she was shocked to find cement slurry being let out into the river from a tanker. On several occasions, pipes carrying raw sewage to the Perungudi treatment plant were found to be leaking, and letting it out into the river.

"Not only do those living around the river dirty it but several commercial establishments also dump and burn their waste by the river. After several complaints, the leakage seems to have been fixed but the river remains dirty and polluted. It is a breeding ground for mosquitoes besides being an eyesore," she said.

A visit to the riverside by Thiru-Vi-Ka Bridge, Adyar Bridge or Kasi Theatre Bridge shows the same scene almost every day - vehicles emptying plastic and waste, people dumping garbage into the river, and people using the riverside as a toilet.

"Hot pungent effluents from industries under the Nagalkeni bridge are let into the Adyar near Thiruneermalai Main Road. Several pumping stations in the case of overflow directly let out sewage into water bodies and stormwater drains," said C R Balaji of Arappor Iyakkam.

"Residents of slums near MGR Colony and Burma Colony directly let out sewage into the river. Similarly, affluent people living in Defence Colony in Ekkatuthangal also let sewage out into the river near Kasi Theatre," he added.

A few residents of Malligaipoo Kuppam, a settlement by the riverside near the Thiru-Vi-Ka Bridge, said they were left with no other option. "We don't have bins to dispose of our waste, so we dump it here. Those who don't have toilets in their homes use the riverbed as a convenient place," said a resident.

Corporation officials, however, said they regularly carry out door-to-door collection of garbage from the Kuppam but people still prefer dumping their waste outside. "We will put up two compactor bins," said an official from Ramky Enviro , which handles conservancy operations in the zone.

