The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Demolitions at whose cost ?

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Saturday, Jan 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Demolitions at whose cost ?

Besides handling routine issues, police personnel now face bizarre situation,
writes R. Ilangovan

Apart from handling the routine issues such as law and order, traffic and crime, the men in uniform in Salem district are facing a few bizarre problems like the one that took place near Udayapatti, a city suburb, a week back.

On January 12, in a tragic incident two school boys drowned at a check dam near Udayapatti.

The dam constructed across the Kannimar Odai, a wild stream, had received copious water from recent rain.

In fact, before the tragedy, the villagers in the locality were happy that the dam had enough water, which in turn had replenished the wells in the neighbourhood after a gap of few years.

Women washed clothes, cattle heads had enough drinking water and villagers believed that the summer could be less severe this time.

But the joy turned into a nightmare for these two boys who took bath in the dam. Reacting to the unfortunate death, a group of villagers demolished a portion of the dam with the help of an earthmover thus allowing the water to drain out.

The check dam, which has been constructed from the public fund and for the villagers’ benefits, is in ruins today.

The boys’ death is highly regrettable and no amount of solace and soothing words could compensate the losses to their parents.

But demolishing a public utility infrastructure like the check dam, which has been constructed in the interest of community welfare, should not be destroyed in a fit of anger, points out a senior district official.

Ammapet Police, which has registered a case for the boys’ deaths are in a fix on whether to register a complaint or not against those who demolished the dam.

No one, either from the villagers or from the district administration, has preferred a complaint in this regard, says a police officer.

A villager, however, claims that they had to break a portion of the dam to let the water drain out so that they could trace the missing boys. “We were frantically trying to save the children at any cost,” he points out.

He also says that they have assured the officials that they will take the responsibility of

plugging the breach. But this is not an isolated incident. In the past too the district had witnessed such an act.

A local political functionary who opposed the tank near his land had demolished it by misguiding the villagers of floods. It also went unnoticed.

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