S. Athiveeran (36) and his friends used to swim and play in the pond in the foothills of Yanaimalai in Malaisamypuram - that was in the late 1990s.
“The water was clear. Children and youth played by dropping one rupee coins into the pond and searching for them,” he says. Today, the pond has become one big sewage pool, serving as an indicator of the abysmally poor sanitation in the village, commonly referred as Othakadai Malaisamypuram in Y. Kodikulam panchayat.
T. Veerachamy, another villager, who recently served as a member of a ward in the panchayat, says sewage water from not only Malaisamypuram but nearby villages and even Othakadai panchayat end up here. A visit by The Hindu team showed open drainages and sewage pits, water stagnation, unpaved roads, and absence of garbage removal by the panchayat - all making the place slushy during rains and vulnerable to vector-borne diseases such as dengue.
S. Shanthi, a woman working in one of the many utensil polishing workshops in the village, says a teenage girl from the village has been admitted at Government Rajaji Hospital with symptoms of dengue, while fever cases were widely prevalent, particularly among children.
Another resident, S. Bhagyalakshmi, says no official from the Health and Family Welfare department or the local body visited the area in the recent months. And there was neither fogging nor other mosquito breeding control activities in the area.
Mr. Athiveeran, who is a functionary of Tamil Puligal Katchi, says he submitted his first petition to Collector in 2006 demanding basic amenities in the village, and subsequently made multiple petitions and staged demonstrations, but to no avail. “Recently, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court expressed its displeasure with the district administration about water stagnating around the court premises and the authorities swiftly created necessary infrastructure to clean it up. Our village is barely two km away. Why cannot they show a similar interest here,” he asks.
Mr. Veerachamy alleges that their area with 1,200 votes in the panchayat has been neglected since a majority of the residents are Dalits. “Even places such as Ayyappan Nagar which came up recently in our panchayat has paved roads and proper drainage facilities,” he says.
“Conservancy workers engaged by the panchayat never visit our place. No funds were allocated for any development activities,” he says.
M. Jeyapandi, a construction worker, says there was knee-deep sewage water in many of the streets during last month rains. “We staged a hunger strike, following which the Block Development Officer visited our area and ordered temporary clean-up of the drains. However, the situation is back to the abysmal state now,” he says.
Acknowledging the issues, a senior official from Madurai East Block, says the required civic works could not be carried out at the moment owing to lack of funds. “However, we are working on measures to mitigate the sufferings of the people,” he says.
