Actor Kamal Haasan visited the Ennore creek of Kosasthalai River in Chennai on Friday. The visit came after he lashed out at the government for their lack of concern about the creek that has been a dumping ground for effluents by power plants for years.
This comes at a time when Haasan has hinted on his entry into politics.
The Kosathaoayar river is several times bigger than the Adyar and the Cooum rivers. Haasan says that about 1,090 acres of land has been lost to encroachment by power plants and oil refineries on the Ennore creek with zero environmental concerns.
The Vallur Thermal Plant and the North Chennai Thermal Power Plant continue to dump their ash into the Kosasthalai. Oil companies Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum add to the problem with their oil refineries that are built on the river.
Haasan, in his tweet, says the river has not yet turned into a drain but that is just a matter of time with plans of about 1000 more acres of land encroachment for expanding Kamarajar Port Limited.
Following is the tweet from the politically vocal actor:
"The Kosasthalai River near Chennai that has not yet turned into a drain still provides livelihood to fishermen. We have lost 1090 acres from the creek due to selfish encroachments done with no environmental concern. The Vallur Thermal Plant and the North Chennai Thermal Power Plant continue to dump their ash into the Kosasthalai," he says. "The government has been indifferent to this though environmental activists have been protesting against these violations for years. Fisherfolk of the area working with other public are seeking to raise their voices but it’s like blowing a horn into a dead man’s ear,” he says
"I hear that the work is on to encroach upon 1,000 more acres of the creek in the guise of expanding Kamarajar Port Limited. Any state that does not give the poor the same help and priority that it gives to land dealers is like the riverbank that ignores a good river running by it. North Chennai will be flooded even if there are normal rains like last year," warns Haasan.
The fisherfolk have expressed gratitude to the actor for bringing up the issue on a public platform and creating dialogue about a crucial environmental issue.
(With inputs from The News Minute and ANI)
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