Taking a serious view on illegal sewer connections, the Madras High Court today directed Tamil Nadu government to ensure creation of a graded penalty mechanism where penalties vary from Rs 5,000 to a couple of lakh of rupees, depending on the nature of the buildings.

The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, passed the interim order on a PIL by NGO Change India in connection with prevention of manual scavenging.

The Bench said the Rs 100 penalty collected for violations is a pittance and even the proposed penalty upto Rs 2,000 was also very less.

“The state government must forthwith take action to incorporate penalties which are punitive in character to deter non-compliance. Even the proposed fine of Rs 2,000 will not serve the purpose. It should be graded from Rs 5,000 to a couple of lakhs of rupees,” the bench said.

The Bench also sought to know if the authorities in appropriate cases can launch criminal prosecution for violations and then submit a status report in that behalf.

The Deputy Commissioner of Corporation of Chennai, in his status report on manual scavenging, submitted that super sucker machines hired from other states are working round the clock and cleared 3,100 tonnes silt from stormwater drains till date.

The report also said that safety gear worth about Rs 12.06 lakh had so far been procured for those who monitor the work. It said a Joint Exercise by officers of Chennai Corporation, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and PWD is being carried out to identify illegal sewer connections.

Till date 7,720 illegal sewer connections had been identified, it said.

It was when the petitioner informed the Court that the Corporation has more than 1,660 km of stormwater drain and about 31 canals to maintain that the bench Baid the joint exercise has to be continued.

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