In a move to curb the menace of residential and commercial buildings discharging sewage on the streets, the State government has proposed to enhance the penalty to ₹1 lakh for multi-storied residential buildings and ₹2 lakh for multi-storied commercial buildings in Chennai.
Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani introduced a Bill in the Assembly on Monday seeking to make certain amendments in the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 to enhance the penalty.
According to the Bill, the penalty for allowing sewage to flow onto the streets would be ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 for ordinary residential and ordinary commercial buildings respectively.
In case of special residential and special commercial buildings, it would be ₹25,000 and ₹50,000 respectively. For multi-storied residential and multi-storied commercial buildings, the penalty would be ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh respectively.
Section 191 of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 prohibits making of any connection with any municipal cable, wire, pipe, drain or channel without the permission of the Commissioner. Section 202 of the Act prohibits allowing sewage to flow in streets by any owner or occupier of any premises. Schedule VII specifies the penalties for the contravention of the provisions of the Act.
To effectively curb the contravention of the said provisions, the government has decided to enhance the penalties for the contravention of the provisions of the Sections 191 and 202 (5), stated the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill.
1.6 lakh illegal sewer inlets
In 2013, almost 1.6 lakh illegal sewer inlets into stormwater drains across the city had been identified by the Chennai Corporation. A drive conducted by the civic body’s Public Health Department had then showed that 373.23 km of drains had been identified as being clogged with sewage from illegal inlets.
So far, if there is an illegal sewer connection in a corporation stormwater drain, the connection is plugged following which, the residents of the building or the commercial complex approach the authorities to seek a valid permission. Officials said that fines ranging from just ₹50 to ₹200 are usually levied under the Public Health Act for the same.
The Chennai Metrowater, at present, resorts to disconnecting sewer connections as a last measure to force the customers to pay long pending arrears in water tax.
