Tamil Nadu legislator Sowmiya Anbumani said a ₹59-crore loan should be used to restore the Tamirabarani River. She said sewage and industrial waste were polluting the river and warned that proposed riverside facilities could obstruct its natural flow.
Anbumani, an MLA from the Pattali Makkal Katchi, inspected the river at Kurukkuthurai in Tirunelveli district and told reporters she would continue raising its protection in the State Assembly. She described the Tamirabarani, which rises in the Western Ghats, as a perennial river with bathing ghats and mandapams that have earned the area the name “Kashi of the south”.
She alleged that large quantities of sewage and industrial waste were being discharged into the river. She also said water was supplied to soft-drink manufacturers while pollution had left people without potable water.
Anbumani said people were concerned that a ₹59-crore loan from Germany could fund riverside projects, including a seven-kilometre walkway and parks, instead of restoring the river. She argued that construction and landscaping could block the flow and contribute to floodwater entering residential areas. She called for the money to be used to restore the ghats and mandapams, for a meeting to consider activists’ proposals, and for the Tamil Nadu government to implement recommendations by water conservationist Rajendra Singh.