CHENNAI: The district administrations have been instructed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to make sure that any vehicles transporting untreated sewage are seized and cases are filed against the drivers.

Nine trucks that were found to be discharging untreated sewage into water bodies rather than delivering it to the common sewage treatment plants were seized in the Tiruvallur district (STP).

Several lorries that transport untreated sewage was stopped and shut in Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, and Chennai.

Even structures with a construction area of less than 20,000 square feet must now receive approval from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board  to create and run a sewage treatment plant.

The crackdown and new directive come in response to numerous reports that Sewage Treatment Plants are not being properly run and that untreated sewage was being dumped onto unoccupied land, storm water drains, and neighboring waterbodies, causing pollution.

All residential associations are required to apply for approval for the sewage treatment plant, and the consent must be renewed on a regular basis, according to a directive from the TNPCB.

It should be mentioned that the TNPCB has been receiving complaints about the open dumping of untreated sewage that is damaging water bodies throughout the state from individuals and social organisations.

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