Youth saves village from toxic water, feted by CM
CHENNAI: The thought of an entire village consuming poisoned water gives him the shivers even now, he says.
S Vijay, the 17-year-old son of a Dharmapuri farmer, saved 15,000 people in his native village of Pikkili, and 17 other villages in the panchayat of the same name, in Dharmapuri district, from drinking toxic water. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday honoured him with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh.
Vijay works for a firm that distributes water from a sump in Melkottai village to 18 villages in the panchayat.
"I wasn't well on the morning of November 9, so my mother helped me get to the sump because I had to close the valve," Vijay says. "The smell was obnoxious near the sump."
Vijay and his mother grew suspicious when they spotted a powdery substance on the path leading to the sump. They found traces of the substance even on the granite slabs covering the sump. "The water also smelled foul so I suspected that someone had put poison in the sump," Vijay says. Tests later proved him right: A laboratory confirmed that a highly toxic rodenticide had been mixed in the water.
Losing no time, Vijay alerted the pump operator in Thirumalvadi village, asking him to stop distribution of water from the overhead tanks that received water from the sump. He also informed Pikkili panchayat president Vasuki Ayyappan about the alarming discovery by calling her husband, C Ayyappan.
The 2 lakh litre sump, which receives water under the Hogennakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project, supplies water to 11 overhead tanks for distribution to 18 villages.
The warning came just in time: The tank operators were to start distribution to street pumps in just an hour.
"Vijay is the saviour of Pikkili. We are alive because of him," Ayyappan says. Residents of the panchayat's villages were elated about the chief minister honouring the boy. "It is a proud moment for all of us because Vijay saved thousands of lives and his achievement has been recognised by Jayalalithaa," says Muthu, a resident of Periyur.
The panchayat resumed water supply only after the sump and overhead tanks were thoroughly cleaned. The panchayat has lodged a complaint with the Papparapatti police, seeking action against the culprits who poisoned the water.
Source - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Youth-saves-village-from-toxic-water-feted-by-CM/articleshow/27199068.cms
S Vijay, the 17-year-old son of a Dharmapuri farmer, saved 15,000 people in his native village of Pikkili, and 17 other villages in the panchayat of the same name, in Dharmapuri district, from drinking toxic water. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday honoured him with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh.
Vijay works for a firm that distributes water from a sump in Melkottai village to 18 villages in the panchayat.
"I wasn't well on the morning of November 9, so my mother helped me get to the sump because I had to close the valve," Vijay says. "The smell was obnoxious near the sump."
Vijay and his mother grew suspicious when they spotted a powdery substance on the path leading to the sump. They found traces of the substance even on the granite slabs covering the sump. "The water also smelled foul so I suspected that someone had put poison in the sump," Vijay says. Tests later proved him right: A laboratory confirmed that a highly toxic rodenticide had been mixed in the water.
Losing no time, Vijay alerted the pump operator in Thirumalvadi village, asking him to stop distribution of water from the overhead tanks that received water from the sump. He also informed Pikkili panchayat president Vasuki Ayyappan about the alarming discovery by calling her husband, C Ayyappan.
The 2 lakh litre sump, which receives water under the Hogennakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project, supplies water to 11 overhead tanks for distribution to 18 villages.
The warning came just in time: The tank operators were to start distribution to street pumps in just an hour.
"Vijay is the saviour of Pikkili. We are alive because of him," Ayyappan says. Residents of the panchayat's villages were elated about the chief minister honouring the boy. "It is a proud moment for all of us because Vijay saved thousands of lives and his achievement has been recognised by Jayalalithaa," says Muthu, a resident of Periyur.
The panchayat resumed water supply only after the sump and overhead tanks were thoroughly cleaned. The panchayat has lodged a complaint with the Papparapatti police, seeking action against the culprits who poisoned the water.
Source - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Youth-saves-village-from-toxic-water-feted-by-CM/articleshow/27199068.cms