Manholes pour out filth on to road near hospital

CHENNAI: Sewage overflowing on the road outside the Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital in Nungambakkam has been posing a health hazard and making the conditions outside very unhygienic. The popular institution, located at the junction of Josier Street and Nageswara Road, has been struggling with this problem for many years, said medical director and head of the Department of Intensive Care Dr Bala Ramachandran.
"The sewage gets blocked on the entire Kodambakkam High Road and Josier Street and because of the two manholes right outside the hospital, it overflows on to the road. All vehicles and the patients who come to the hospital have to wade through the sewage. This is just not the done thing outside a hospital. It is a source of a lot of infections and is very unhygienic," he said.
Though the conservancy staff of the Chennai Corporation clean the place regularly, sewage collects within a short time and the whole place stinks, said Dr Ramachandran. "Corporation officials are prompt in cleaning the mess when I report it but there is a serious sewage blockage problem in this area which needs to be addressed," he said. He added that members of the public also ought to be more responsible as usually plastic bags choke the sewage in the area making it overflow. "Most times when corporation staff come to clean it they find the sewage blocked because of plastic bags and other materials," he said.
Vegetable vendors and shop owners outside the hospital said the problem had existed for long. "It has been like this for years now. During the rains it becomes worse because the rainwater mixes with the sewage and people have to wade through it to reach the hospital," said a vegetable vendor.