Corpn in a fix as dredged moat sand finds no takers

As part of the smart city project, the Corporation took up the dredging of the moat to clear encroaching bushes and weeds that affected water from lapping the fort wall on all sides. Taken up at a cost of Rs 33 crore, the Corporation pressed into service four earth-movers which were mounted on floats to carry the dredging operation. However, Corporation officials said that more than 25,000 cubic metres of sand removed from the moat as part of the operation over the past two months was now piling up as there were no takers for it. While some amount of the sand was used to raise the bund of the Otteri lake on the Tiruvannamalai road, officials also reportedly attempted to dump a portion of it in stone quarries near Chitheri on the outskirts of the town. “But this was objected to by around 25 local farmers who were drawing water from the quarries and hence we had to give up our efforts,” said an official seeking anonymity.

Subsequently, the local body sought the assistance of the Agricultural department to clear the sand and asked them “four times to check whether the sand was fit for agricultural use. Though officials promise to come and do the needful, they have not done anything till date,” the official added.

The Corporation announcing that the farmers could even take the sand failed to get any response. “We do not know what to do as dredging work will continue for another four months and if not removed immediately, sand will pile up, creating another problem for us,” a senior Corporation official said. When asked about it, the district president of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, K Raja, said, “The sand can be used by farmers. However, they will wait for water to drain out before taking it to their farms.” Varuna Kumar, the district secretary of the association, said, “The only fear of farmers will be the presence of glass bottle shards in the removed sand. As tourists visiting the fort sometimes throw liquor bottles into the moat, there is a chance that glass which does not degrade will be encrusted in the sand and will hurt the hands and feet of those working in the fields. Also, glass shards will affect the crop output.”

Raja added, “The reason why no farmer has volunteered to remove the sand is because there was no proper announcement to this effect at the monthly farmers’ grievance meet held at the Collector’s office where nearly 200 farmers congregate. If this had been done, farmers would have been more than willing to collect the sand”.

Meanwhile, Archaeological Survey of India officials in charge of the fort are apprehensive that continued dumping of sand on the fort’s periphery would affect the beauty of the landscape and will, in turn, bring in the requirement of additional expenditure to clear it.