Bursting of underground sewage lines around the Central Bus Stand in Tiruchi has become a perennial problem not only to the pedestrians, passengers and shop keepers, but also the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation.
Steady flow of sewage greeted the local residents, pedestrians and owners and staff members of commercial establishments on Rockins Road on Friday. The Corporation had to hurriedly deploy its men and machines to set right the issue. A few days prior to this, sewage water overflowed on Collector office road near St. John Vestry Anglo Indian School. The Corporation’s men worked overtime to repair the manhole. Two weeks prior to this, another burst in underground sewage near Anand Hotel had troubled the shop keepers and passersby.
“We encounter the problem very frequently. It causes stench and revulsion in the busy locality. It gives hardship to passengers and local people. We do not know when the sewage line will burst,” said a proprietor of a restaurant near Periar statue at the Central bus stand, who wished not to be quoted.
If a sewer line bursts, it would take at least a day for sanitary workers to completely arrest the overflow. The stench would take a few more hours to control. As a whole, it would have its impact for two days in the area, where a number of restaurants and eateries were situated along the Central Bus stand, he added.
While appreciating the quick response from the teams of Tiruchi Corporation to reach the problematic areas, he said the need of the hour was to overhaul sewer lines, which were laid about 40 years ago. It should study the functioning of underground sewage line system in order to find a permanent solution.
Civic activists are of the view that a section of hotels and restaurant owners have to be blamed for the sorry state of affairs. Many of them had been indiscriminately discharging sewer into the underground lines against capacity, giving extreme pressure to them. Moreover, some of them paid little attention in preventing the staff members from throwing plastic carry bags, leftovers and tea cups in drainage. It blocks the free flow of drain water.
While agreeing that blocking of sewer lines around the Central Bus Stand had been forcing the sanitary workers on tender hook, a senior official of the Tiruchi Corporation said the sewer lines had been facing extreme pressure due to excessive discharge of waste by hotels and restaurants.
It would explore the possibility of improving the underground drainage facility on roads close to the Central bus stand in the Smart City Proposal.
