Madurai used to be one of the well-planned cities in the world with a systematic sewage collection and disposal system that did not allow waste water to pollute the Vaigai. But with increasing population and urbanisation, the waste water disposal system is bursting at its seams now. Today, the waterbodies are bearing the brunt due to lack of a well-connected drainage system.
To address the issue, Madurai Corporation is providing underground drainage (UGD) facility at 15 wards in the northern parts of the city under Smart Cities Mission programme of the Central government. Residents of these wards, which were merged with the Corporation in 2011, say it is high time they had an underground drainage system.
For the ₹291.37-crore project, ₹248 crore will be routed through Smart Cities Mission programme. “The rest will be realised through connection deposits collected from users,” says an official.
Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan says once the project is completed, the problem of sewage mixing into the Vaigai will be solved. “The gradient is such that sewage tend to flow from the north towards the south. Hence, channels on the northern parts of the city drain sewage into the Vaigai. Once the underground drainage system is in place, Vaigai river will be spared from carrying sullage even as hygiene standards improve in places north of the river,” he says.
The Area Based Development (ABD) zone under Smart Cities Mission was expanded to include the project in the interest of protecting the Vaigai from contamination. The UGD work will start in a week and will be completed in two years. Under the project, three new lift stations will be set up at Koodal Nagar, Senthur Nagar and Bharath Nagar. New sewage pumping stations will come up at Vandiyur, Vilangudi and Anaiyur. These stations will be connected to the sewage pumping station at Munthirithoppu from where waste water will be directed to the sewage treatment plant at Sakkimangalam.
New status, old woes
In 2011, the number of wards under the Corporation’s purview was expanded from 72 to 100. But the 28 new wards lacked drinking water pipelines and underground drainage systems. Residents often connected their septic tanks and discharged their domestic waste directly into the water and irrigation channels.
G. Mathiapidaran of S. Alangulam, where underground drainage has been proposed, says for the past 15 years untreated sewage from houses flow into the water channel of Alangulam tank. “The stream, which is already choked with plastic waste and garbage, is almost in a solidified state. It causes mosquito breeding, which worsens during rains. People often fell sick as untreated sewage flows in the open,” he says.
The sewage released from households from the northern side of the city ultimately drains into the Vaigai through chains of interconnected tanks and feeder channels.
Even in areas where underground drainage pipelines were laid by the residents under the ‘Nammakku Namey’ scheme, the pipelines were ultimately connected to the waterbodies. For instance, waste water from residences in Gomathipuram, Vandiyur, Tahsildar Nagar and Melamadai are discharged through an irrigation channel that drains into the Vaigai.
Urban flooding
S. Elamuhil, Project Executive with Dhan Foundation’s CURE, says that when sewage released into the channel becomes stagnant due to dumping of garbage by residents, it leads to sedimentation in the channel. “This reduces its carrying capacity. Similarly, when sewage stagnates in water tanks, it reduces storage capacity. So, waterbodies, which are important to control floods, store less water, leading to inundation. It happened in Mahalakshmi Nagar during rainy season two years back,” he says.
These tanks also help in recharging groundwater. Hence, there are probabilities that the groundwater can become contaminated in the long run, he adds.
“But the underground drainage system, a long demand of the residents, will solve all these problems,” says D. Raghavan, president, Gomathipuram and Thendral Nagar Residents Welfare Association.
Another proposal
The Corporation Commissioner says a detailed project report with an estimate of ₹400 crore is being prepared for constructing a underground drainage system to the added wards on the south side of the Vaigai. “This will ensure that underground drainage facility is present throughout the city,” he says.
