Residents of at least six villages located on the bank of Vaigai have complained that they faced serious health hazards and water pollution as ‘treated sewage’ let out by the Ramanathapuram Municipality remained stagnant in the river for about eight km and for more than two years.
When the municipality launched the ₹31.51-crore Underground Sewerage System (UGSS) in July 2013, the local people were assured that the sewage would be let into the Vaigai only after treatment at the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) built at Kazhgoorani and they could even use the treated water for agriculture purpose.
But the project, launched to free the municipality from the menace of sewage, turned out to be a bane for the people of Ilamanur, Salaikudiyuruppu, Ramala Nagar, Melakottai, Mayapuram and Thillainayagapuram as the ‘treated’ sewage let into the river remained stagnant for more than two years.
“The entire eight km long stretch from Ilamanur to Thillainayagapuram is stinking and we live in horrible conditions as the stagnant water became the huge breeding source for mosquitoes,” lamented Mohamed Hanifa of Ramala Nagar.
When the project was launched the officials told the local people that the treated water would as good as ground water and they could even channelise it for irrigation “but what we get is raw sewage,” the villagers complained.
The water has even destroyed the invasive karuvelam trees, they said. A child succumbed to dengue fever and maximum fever cases were reported from the villages, they said.
Denying the charge that sewage was directly let into the river, officials of both municipality and Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board, which maintained the STP, said that the entire day’s collection of about 4.5 million litres of sewage was let into the river only after treatment. The plant, under the Modified Activated Sludge Process (MASP) system, ran to its full capacity of 4.5 MLD, the officials claimed. The released water was supposed to flow freely and join the backwaters near Aatrangarai but it remained stagnant in the absence of rains for more than two years in the district, they said.
Meanwhile, the UGSS gained momentum with about 8,500 households in the municipality have opted for sewage connections, officials said.
