Heaving a sigh of relief that the UGD (Underground Drainage) work was completed in the first phase in your area? It can be a permanent cause for misery.
“Improper execution of the work is leading to contamination of groundwater resources making it unfit for consumption,” says G. Krishna Rao, a retired professor of Geology from Andhra University.
It will not take long for you to recall the laying of the earthen UGD pipes in your area. There was hardly any supervision of the pipeline laying work and the workers had to be repeatedly reminded by the residents about checking the levels and connecting to the outlets.
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It didn't take long for the apprehensions of the residents to come true. The drain water was seen overflowing from the manholes onto the roads at Seethammadhara, MVP Colony and other areas.
“This is due to improper sealing of the joints between the earthen pipes. A conceptual study was done following complaints of borewells at MVP Colony. It was found that there was bacterial contamination apart from other contaminants,” Prof. Krishna Rao told The Hindu on Saturday.
“The city, due to its undulating topography and rock aquifers, has had a dependable supplementary groundwater resource of high quality for ages.
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The underground sewerage system, laid in the city a few years ago, was designed to protect the precious underground water resources from pollution sources like domestic and industrial effluents as they are carried directly without contact with the ground surface.”
“Ironically, the UGD sewerage system threatens to be a permanent source of pollution, making the groundwater useless forever. This is solely due to human failure in the execution of the laying of pipelines and improper sealing of the joints,” he says.
Prof. Krishna Rao and the Forum for Better Visakha convener E.A.S. Sarma have already represented the matter to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) authorities in the past.
“PVC pipes are being used for the UGD work taken up in the second phase. These pipes are comparatively safe but here again proper supervision is important. The pipelines laid in the first phase should be abandoned and a new pipeline laid or else the old system of individual septic tanks should be continued,” Prof. Krishna Rao says.
Are the GVMC authorities listening?