Every morning, a group of women from Vanchinathan Main Street, near Venus bus stop in Perambur, assemble at one end of the street to settle a common issue that has been worrying them for the last two years. It’s this: Where to fetch a few pots of water? .
They then walk at least three kilometres to fetch water. As Chennai Metrowater has not extended the work on re-laying the old pipelines to the tail ends of Vanchinathan Main Street and Chengalvarayan Street, residents are forced to cover a long distance to fetch a few pots of water.
“Local Metrowater officials do not entertain our complaints and ask us to go to the Chennai Corporation or the local councillor, while the latter has asked us to complain to the Metrowater,” said S. Viji, a resident of Perambur.
Stretches such as Vanchinathan Main Street, Chengalvarayan Street and a couple of other lanes are the most-affected, despite having individual water connections. Around 2,000 families live on these stretches. Every day, on an average, at least 8 to 10 pots of water are needed to meet the water needs of a family of four persons. Residents rely on piped water supply as the soil in the neighbourhood has hard rock, which makes it difficult for digging a common well or a borewell.
“A few years ago, a group of residents came together to have a common borewell. But, water was not available even at a depth of 300 feet. So, we are left with only one option — piped water supply,” said S. Vairamuthu, another resident of Perambur.
Now, residents chip in money to source water from private tankers. On an average, a tanker lorry with a capacity of 9,000 litres makes two trips to the neighbourhood on alternate days.
“How long can we rely on tankers? Piped water supply by the Metrowater is the permanent solution,” said G.Kandan.
Metrowater officials say these streets are located on an elevated position on the pipeline route. As the pressure is low due to shortage of water flow to the city, areas in the elevated position do not get water supply. Re-laying work would take a lot of money, for it also involves road cutting charges, they say.
