One of K. Devaraj’s favourite pastimes as a child was swimming in a public well. Along with friends, he used to swim in their own ‘pool’ inside the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) quarters. That was in 1983. Now, what lies in its place are heaps of garbage.
Devaraj, a resident of Tondiarpet, can’t help but peep into the well through a small gap and sigh at the sight. The well which is half filled with garbage is kept closed with concrete slabs, to keep it safe for children.
“For many years, more than 200 families at the housing quarters drew water from this public well. But, in the late 1990s, its maintenance left a lot to be desired,” says 47-year-old Devaraj, who is secretary of the TNSCB Residents Welfare Association in Tondiarpet.
Located behind the police station, off Elaya Mudali Street in Tondiarpet, the ring-type dry public well, which is located at the entrance of the housing quarters, is around 46-feet-deep covering an area of 100 sq.ft. During its early years, the public well not only served the 210 families within the housing quarters but also other residents in the neighbourhood. Commercial establishments, public utilities such as government health centres, shops and traders too relied on the well, especially during drought-like situations.
Annual desilting and deepening of the well has not been undertaken by the TNSCB, which collects a monthly rent that includes water charges from the occupants.
The introduction of street-corner public tanks to supply water for residents also reduced patronage of the public well.
And then, the worst damage was done when as part of the reconstruction activities of the housing quarters in 2013, the pipelines connecting the rainwater harvesting system to the public well were closed. That stopped the flow of excess rainwater to the well, turning it dry.
The reconstructed housing quarters now has 464 families, and each occupy a 410 sq.ft. house. Divided into blocks, the housing quarters has 16 houses in each block with a hand pump in front of each block. Sadly, the motor pump room is defunct, and none of the hand pumps can draw water from the empty Over Head Tank (OHT) within the premises.
Residents have pooled in money and have sunk a few bore wells to supplement their daily water needs apart from the water supplied by Chennai Metrowater.
