Chennai:
A Public Interest Litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court for a direction to the Superintendent of Puzhal Central Prison, on the outskirts of the city, not to dispose of human waste and sewage from jail in a manner that would pollute the air and water in the area.
The petitioner advocate DJ Venkatesan, also sought a direction to the state government and State Pollution Control Board (PCB) to initiate appropriate legal action to ensure that proper and full-fledged sewage system was installed in the prison.
He submitted that the Puzhal lake was one of the primary drinking water sources of the city.
Stating that the prison was opened in 2006, the advocate said it had the capacity to house 1,250 remand prisoners, an equal number of convicts and 500 women prisoners.
In the absence of a proper sewage, garbage stagnated in and around the prison, posing a severe health problem to the public, the petitioner said.
He alleged that following his representation to the PCB last month, the authorities concerned inspected the area, after which human waste was covered with mud and drained into the adjoining land.
However, temporary measures would not in any way restore the quality of the water for human usage. Such acts caused air and water pollution.
After the petition came up for hearing, the court ordered notice to the authorities concerned returnable in four weeks.