Chennai, Nov 18 (IANS): The Southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the Cooum and Adyar rivers are cleaned.

According to sources, the directive follows reports of rampant discharge of sewage into the rivers turning them into hotbeds of pollution.

A bench comprising Justice Pushpa Satyanarayan and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati asked the state to check the illegal dumping of garbage into the rivers besides utilising the funds sanctioned for it.

The Green Tribunal also directed the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary to convene a meeting of all the department heads and to issue necessary orders on the monitoring of these rivers. It also directed to properly monitor the Buckingham Canal in Chennai and to prevent its pollution and garbage disposal into it.

Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Public Works Department of Tamil Nadu, and Chennai River Restoration Trust (CRRT) have been asked to file their independent reports on the issues highlighted in media reports and on the action taken on these issues.