Frequent clogs and overflowing manholes of the underground sewage lines continue to pose a health hazard to residents in quite a few places in the city and a headache for civic officials in the recent months.
In the latest incident that has shocked residents of Sivaram Nagar in Srirangam, a manhole of the choked sewer line in the colony has been deliberately broken to allow the sewage to flow into open space along the Tiruchi-Chennai Railway line. Consequently, a vast stretch of open space alongside the railway track near the Periyar Nagar overbridge is turning into a swamp of sewage now. Over the past few days, residents of the area have been living amidst unbearable stench and forced to brave a serious health hazard.
According to Iyappan, a local resident, the problem started when a manhole on an adjacent lane in the same locality started overflowing some days back. A ‘jet rodder’ machine was used to clean the line.
However, the manhole on a blacktopped lane running along the railway track has been cut through and opened up deliberately to make way for the sewage to flow into the open space.
Apart from the stench, the stagnant sewage has also turned a breeding ground for mosquito, locals allege. A few residents also complain that sewage was heading up and not flowing into the sewer system owing to the blockages.
A Corporation official, when contacted, said the sewage lines in the area were cleared of clogs a few days back.
The sewage was let out in the open space to ‘dewater’ the line so that the clogs were removed in the line in the area, the officer said and assured to attend to the matter.
Over the past few months, the Corporation has been facing a problem in pumping sewage from the drainage system’s lifting stations to its Panchapur sewage treatment farm.
Problems of overflowing drains have been reported from many other parts of the city too. Power cuts are cited as one of the reasons for the problem as the disruption in pumping was resulting in overflow of sewage from manholes in some places. The Corporation Council had already approved a proposal to install generators in lifting stations.
The Council had approved the installation of generators at the lifting stations at a cost of about Rs.33 lakhs at the Thiruvanaikovil Trunk Road, Sri Nagar, Burma Colony, Jhansi Nagar along Amma Mandapam Road, Kandan Nagar and Nelson Road, all in Srirangam.
