Faced with frequent blockades in the underground sewer lines, the Tiruchi Corporation has ordered that all hotels, commercial complexes and apartments in the city should have diaphragm chambers to filter out silt, sanitary napkins, left over food items and other solid waste.
The city’s sewer network, which pumps about 56 million litres of sewage a day to the treatment plant at Panchapur, often runs into problems owing to clogging of the lines at different parts of the city. Not a day passes without a few manholes being opened up to clear the blocks.
Manholes around the Central Bus Stand, where most of the city hotels are located, could often be seen overflowing posing a health hazard.
In an attempt to overcome the problem, the Corporation has instructed all hoteliers to build diaphragm chambers so that the sewage is filtered before being let out into the underground sewer lines.
Corporation Commissioner V.P.Thandapani on Tuesday issued a statement asking all hoteliers and apartments in the city to build the chambers within a week.
According to Mr.Thandapani the Corporation has already had a meeting with hoteliers to brief them on the need to build the structures. However, only 18 out of the 52 hotels have built the chambers so far.
“We often face problems from the sewage flow from the hotels. Frequently, we find plastic water bottles, tumblers, cup and saucers and even broken crockery pieces.
Apart from clogging the drains, they also cause injuries to workers removing the silt and waste which are sucked out of the sewer lines using machines,” observes a Corporation engineer. In apartments, the problem is mostly caused by the unmindful dumping of sanitary napkins.
Hotels failing to comply with the directive would face penal action including disconnection of drinking water supply and delinking of the underground sewage connection. Steps would also be taken to get the licences of the hotels cancelled, he cautioned.
According to Corporation sources, the design of the diaphragm chambers has already been provided to the hoteliers.
Mr.Thandapani has said that apartments and other commercial complexes too were required to build such structures immediately to overcome the problem.
