Sewage contaminates drinking water in T Nagar area

Chennai: The delay in laying a stormwater drain has caused havoc on Sounderarajan Street in T Nagar. Piped water, residents say, has become unfit for drinking after the sewage line broke thanks to to the road-digging works of the Chennai Corporation and the gutter water seeped in.
As part of the the stormwater drain project, corporation workers over a month ago dug a 6-ft-deep trench that occupied nearly three feet of the 10-ft-wide road.Along the stretch there are over 500 houses, many of them occupied by senior citizens. K Ezhumalai, the corporation councillor under whose jurisdiction the street comes, had said that rain was the main cause for the delay in laying the drain.
The sewer line broke recently while the road was being dug with earthmovers. "A few days ago, I suspected that there was some stench in the pipe water. Two days ago, I was sure it was the smell of sewage," said H M Chidambaram, a senior citizen and long-time resident of the street.
However, by the time he realised this, his wife had developed stomach infections, he said. "I called the local Metrowater engineer after this and he said the sewage pipeline was damaged and that the gutter had mixed with the drinking water. He advised us against using the pipe water for some days," he said.
J Mayilvahanam (name changed), another resident, said that officials of the Chennai Corporation and the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) were involved in a blame game. "When we tell the Corporation staff about our woes, they blame Metrowater and vice-versa. This is a perfect example of the lack of coordination between departments," he said.
S Jaganathan, secretary of the residents welfare association at an apartment complex on the street, said many in his complex had now begun buying water. "But the problem is that even lorries are unable to come on to the street due to the digging. The recent rains saw the ditch being filled up and only after this goes out can the workers rectify the fault. In some parts of the street, sewage has started leaking on to the road too," he said. "The Corporation should not have started the work during the rainy season," he added.
Karunanidhi, engineer of Metrowater's depot 127 under which the street comes, said he had appointed two staff members to point out the route of the sewage and drinking water pipeline to the Corporation staff. "In case of a damage, we will send two more persons to attend to the fault immediately," he said.
D Velmurugan , area engineer of CMWSSB's zone 8, said the pipeline may have been damaged during the digging by machines. "Such accidents can be avoided if the work is done manually. But the fault will be attended to quickly," he said.
Residents of T Nagar who face water or sewage-related problems can contact D Velmurugan on 7845061908 or 28150059/28153803.