Until April this year rain was not much of a bother for residents of Kanniga Parameswari Nagar and Murugan Nagar, off Nanjundapuram Road. The storm water drain that the Coimbatore Corporation had constructed a few years ago had served the residents well by draining away the rain water.
But after the Corporation took up in February this year the work to repair storm water drain and completed the work by April, the residents had had trouble whenever it rained. “Overflowing sewage from the repaired drain carried silt on to road making slushy the roads in both the localities,” rues S.R. Marudachalam, a resident.
Black, slushy roads with slippery surfaces are what they get to see the morning after rain, adds B. Vinodh Kumar, another resident.
“The residents cannot step out of their houses. We are forced to walk on the drain margins to move from one end of the road to another.”
The residents say after the Corporation’s repair work, the rain water or sewage did not flow out of the area, to join the drain on Nanjundapuram Road as perhaps the drain slope is altered.
Now, water from parts of the Ramalingam Jothi Nagar in the north flow south towards their localities and the additional rain water and sewage flow only brings in more silt and stagnation.
In a few places at Kanniga Parameswari Nagar, the sewage enters houses as well. “After the recent rain, we had to flush out the sewage that entered our house,” complains K. Murugaiyan, a resident.
The residents say the Corporation closing the storm water drain only in a few places has added to the problem. They want the Corporation to address the issue by repairing the drain to ensure rain water or sewage flows out of the locality and add that they have petitioned the civic body in this regard.
A Corporation official says the problem is not with the slope of the storm water drain in the two localities. The problem is the block in the storm water drain along the west of Nanjundapuram Road. The choked Nanjundapuram Road drain that is more than 1.50m deep often sees heavy flow of water or sewage and given the block, pushes sewage back into the two localities.
The Corporation is aware of the issue, has prepared estimates to remove the block on Nanjundapuram Road drain and once it completes the work, the Kanniga Prameswari Nagar and Murugan Nagar drains will not have to suffer the over flowing drain problem.
