For over a month now, residents of Ayapakkam have been enduring overflowing sewage onto their streets.
The Tamil Nadu Housing Board Colony in Ayapakkam has over 12,000 flats and about 200 streets. Residents complained that the locality is plagued by many problems. R.Baskar, a resident, said sewage has been overflowing from the manholes in many streets as the pumping station is not being maintained properly.
“Unbearable stench is emanating for many days now. It is hard to even walk on the roads particularly during evening hours,” he said.
Now, more flats are being built in the area. But the existing drainage network is not adequate to serve the growing population. The treated sewage is released into the Cooum river near Thiruverkadu, he added.
Complaints registered
E.Kumar, a resident, said several complaints have been made to the panchayat authorities about poor maintenance of sewage pumping station.
Besides recurring sewage overflow that poses health hazard to residents, garbage is being dumped near the Anna park.
“We find it difficult to register our complaints as there are no elected representatives,” he said.
As there are no garbage bins, some people find it convenient to dump garbage along the bund of the Ambattur lake. Residents demanded that the Water Resources Department must take measures to restore the lake in a full-fledged manner.
Sources in Ayapakkam panchayat and Avadi taluk said steps would be taken to address the civic issues in the locality immediately.
