Following a report in the June 30 issue of The Hindu Downtown highlighting the derelict state of a huge public well at the housing quarters of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) in Tondiarpet, the facility seems to be well and firmly on the way to being revived.
On July 11, TNSCB started restoration of the dry well, with a team of officials led by local assistant engineer Bhavani inspecting the well, and discussing the modalities involved in its restoration.
Subsequently, on July 12, a team of six workers employed by the Board started removing debris from the dry well.
The cleaning exercise is expected to continue for the next few days and then work of deepening of the well will be taken up.
This action by the TNSCB comes after a team of senior civic officials of Zone – 4 (Tondiarpet) of the Greater Chennai Corporation led by its Regional Deputy Commissioner (North), S. Divyadharshini, inspected the dry well at the housing quarters on July 8, based on the report.
Following this inspection, the Corporation also sought details relating to the public well from TNSCB, including the jurisdictional powers relating to its maintenance.
Presenting the restoration plan, TNSCB officials said the dry well and its surrounding areas would be cleared of debris and a fencing would be raised around the area for the safety of residents and passersby. The stormwater drain along the stretch will be connected to the public well to allow excess rainwater to be discharged into the well during monsoon.
The Board will ensure regular maintenance including prevention of encroachments around the well. However, TNSCB officials said that linking of the rainwater harvesting system at the housing quarters with the public well would take some time as it involved fund allocation from the State government for various works including road digging between the housing quarters and the public well and laying of pipes.
At present, 464 families live at the housing quarters, with each family having a 410 sq.ft. house. The housing quarters is divided into blocks, with each block having 16 houses each. There is a hand pump in front of each block. As the motor pump room is defunct, none of the hand pumps can draw water from the empty Over Head Tank (OHT) built at the housing quarters.
Chennai Metrowater supplies water the housing quarters. And residents are said to have pooled their money and installed a few borewells to supplement the supply.
