For six months now, families living in Dhobi Colony, an area in ward 46 (Lourdhu Nagar), have been getting sewage-mixed drinking water supplied by the Corporation.
Two hand pumps set up at the colony extract only brown-coloured water with a stench. Residents have no other choice but to consume it.
P. Sundari who has been living in the area for nine years now, says that her young sons have fallen ill many times over the past few months.
“I had to rush them to the Urban Primary Health Centre at K. Pudur because they were often running a high temperature. The water is terrible but we cannot afford to spend ₹30 for each water can,” she says.
According to a local Corporation official, a broken drainage line is the cause of the problem. “Though the ward receives water once in four days, the colony has a broken line through which sewage has been getting mixed with the drinking water for the last six months,” he says. The people who fill the first 50 pots of water face the brunt as the water is initially dark brown.
It eventually becomes a bit clean but white froth forms on top of the pots and containers signalling contamination. About 50 years ago, Dhobi Colony was a small area with three families of laundrymen.
“The place had a few people who would wash and iron clothes for the residents living between K. Pudur and Pandian hotel. There was a plenty of water as there was a tank nearby. Many people were initially apprehensive of living here as most of Dhobi Colony was formerly a graveyard. Things, however, began changing,” said S. Palpandi, a local shop owner, whose ancestors had lived in the area for several years. Soon, three families became 30. The laundrymen began preventing cremations in Dhobi Colony in the 1980s. Ever since, it has been a haven for citizens from low-economic background.
Dhobi Colony now houses about 70 families living in single-bedroom houses with a poor water supply.
“Since most people are daily wage workers, none has taken it seriously,” says Ms. Sundari.
V. Solaiammal, a resident, says MLAs and Councillors (till the local bodies were dissolved) would visit the area only during elections.
A senior Executive Engineer of the ward says that he would look into the issue. He adds that the Corporation has been taking swift steps in summer so that monsoon time is not problematic.
