A pure glass of drinking water is still a dream for the 400 families living in Balasubramanium Nagar in ward 70.
There are just six public water pipelines, which are mostly installed in a congested space and the residents have to climb down to fill their plastic pots.
On a stretch of around 52 houses there is only one main water pipeline, which creates chaos among the families. The situation is worse in this hot weather when the families have to store water for a week as they receive potable water only once in five days.
“We receive water once every five days, that too many times we do not get clean water, forget ‘pure’ drinking water. Wriggling worms coming from the water pipelines are very common and we have been living with this from more than a year now,” says Kalpana, a housewife while filling her plastic pot.
There are days when a few families couldn’'t catch and store enough water for their family and they have to look for alternatives. “We either have to walk to Sowripalayam and stand in the queue for hours to get our turn to fill buckets and pots. If we couldn’t, then we drink the salt water,” laments Devi.
The reason for the presence of live worms in the water is not known to the residents yet. “We have complained to the ward councillor many times, but he gives false assurances. No one comes to check the pipelines if it is broken and getting mixed up with the drainage water,” complains 28-year-old Divya pointing at the water pipe.
However, the ward councillor B. Ganeshan denies any such problem coming to his notice. “We supply drinking water once in four days for eight hours and the salt water comes for four hours every morning and evening. No one has approached me to complain about worms in drinking water, if anyone complains then obviously I will take action without any delay.”
This is not just one problem. There is a huge open drain canal, which is blocked with garbage thrown there every day. This has resulted in breeding mosquitoes and foul sewage smell. The residents also demand a compound wall to protect themselves from mosquitoes and sewage smell. “We have submitted a petition to PWD to approve ideas to solve the problem and construct a compound wall, but it is in the pipeline,” said the ward councillor.
