Protect Otteri tank from garbage, say Vellore councillors

VELLORE

The Otteri tank, considered one of the key sources of water for Vellore city, should be protected from being used as a dump.

n the outskirts of the city

This was one of the key civic issues highlighted by the majority of councillors at the monthly meeting of the Corporation Council held on Tuesday.

Currently, at least 15 borewells have been dug around the tank, on the outskirts of the city, to tap the groundwater to supply water every day. However, ward members said most of the dumping was being done after sunset, and residents had to install CCTV cameras to prevent illegal dumping.

“We have also raised with the Collector [P. Kumaravel Pandian] the need to locate a permanent landfill for the Corporation. The tank will be protected,” Mayor Sujatha Ananthakumar said.

Spread over 100 acres, the tank has a storage capacity of 4.5 lakh cubic feet, mainly fed with rainwater from Naickeneri, Palla Idayapatti and the Klavimedu hills. The tank is a British era facility. Excess water from it flows to the Fort’s moat through Nicholson Channel and then to Surya Kulam. A natural distribution system is in place as water flows to the ground-level reservoir in the Corporation’s filter bed in Vellore.