Families living in the multi-storey Slum Board flats in Kotturpuram want Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board to arrange for direct supply of water to their homes.
Due to its absence, residents have made alternate arrangements, often tedious for women, on their own.
Residents like Vasantha and L. Pushpa said they were living in thatched huts in the same area before they moved into the flats on West Canal Bank Road, Kotturpuram, about 35 years ago. Initially, the flats had cement water tanks on the terrace. These tanks were supplied with water drawn from a huge public well nearby.
“It was in the late 1980s that the water quality deteriorated and by early 1990s the well was abandoned,” Ms. Vasantha said.
Some years later, the cement water tanks constructed on the terrace were demolished as part of renovation works.
But since the tanks were not rebuilt, the families decided to make their own arrangements.
“When there is a power cut, our improvised motors cannot be operated. We end up three to four flights of stairs carrying heavy pots of water,” said Stella Mary, a resident.
No borewells
She said that they were not allowed to sink deep borewells as they were told they would affect the structural stability of the flats.
“In certain areas, people do not get water even once a week,” she added.
Officials at TNSCB said it was their responsibility to ensure water supply to the tenants, but added that if the flats had been sold, it was the owners’ responsibility to make water arrangements.
Officials to probe
They, however, said they would look into the specific problems in Kotturpuram.
