Chennai: After stormwater now it is turn of sewage water to flow along the city roads. For the past one week there is not much rain in Chennai, but there is a constant flow of foul emanating water along the north Chennai city roads.
Sewer overflow has been a common menace in low-lying areas of north Chennai and the situation near the slaughterhouses are even worse. Public residing in old parts of Chennai is forced to wade through sewer overflow and sanitation is a major issue in Thiru Vika Nagar, Choolai, Egmore, Pulianthope and Pattalam areas.
“The smell hits you on your face near Pulianthope slaughter house and the nearby bus stand remains deserted due to the disgusting smell that emanates from the un-cleaned slaughter house. I staged a sit-in protest last week to clear the drains. Only then did the metro water officials clean the drains,” said Thayagam Kavi, legislator of Thiru Vika Nagar.
Sanitation is a major issue and there is a need for more staff to attend the clog drains in north Chennai, he said. “I am willing to allocate funds from the MLA area development scheme but metro water department remains elusive in executing new projects and has turned a blind eye towards attending public complaints,” the MLA added.
“The situation in nearby Otteri, Choolai and Pattalam had also turned from bad to worse and the entire Egmore constituency is suffering due to poor administration of Chennai metro water and Chennai corporation,” said Egmore legislator K.S. Ravichandran.
Private schools in Doveton, Vepery and Egmore do not have rain water harvesting structures and they often drain the water on to roads adding to water stagnation.
“Last week I gave a petition to corporation commissioner seeking solutions for monsoon related complaints. So far, there has been no response,” he said.
Real estate brokers in North Chennai also admit that marketing residential properties in north Chennai has become difficult due to monsoon woes.
Sanitation and sewer overflow are a nuisance during November –December period. “Due to sewerage blocks and water logging, enquiry for property rentals has gone down by 30 per cent in north Chennai,” said Arani Sreenivasan, a real estate consultant.
When contacted, municipal administration secretary Harmandar Singh said a lot of repair works had been taken to arrest flooding and regarding the sewer overflow, the specific complaints will be attended.
“We are taking all steps to ensure that public grievances are attended to,” the top official said. Regarding private schools letting out stormwater in roads the official said that the issue would be examined for a solution.
