For nearly a week now, many residents of Sriram Nagar in Alwarpet have been suffering because of water contamination that has resulted in quite a few persons ill with diarrhoea and vomiting.
L. Hariharan, a 30-year-old resident of Sriram Nagar said, three people in his residence were sick with diarrhoea and vomiting owing to the water contamination. “Last week, we noticed the water colour turned dark, and a foul smell emanated from it. Soon after this, my wife, cousin and his wife fell ill. We subsequently closed the inlet valves and have been managing with borewell water now,” he said.
Before Sriram Nagar, neighbouring streets were already facing this problem and many residents need not have fallen ill if they had been informed to close the water valves in advance, till the issue was resolved, he said. “Also, the sewer water got mixed with stormwater drains and this needs to be attended to as well,” he said.
J. Narayan, a 72-year-old resident of the area said he and his wife too had diarrhoea and vomiting last week. “We had to clean the sump and get a water tanker in last week for our water needs,” he said.
Officials of Chennai Metrowater said the issue occurred because the sewer pipeline had been damaged in one location which caused a leakage and it entered the drinking water pipeline. The officials said that they had already begun the rectification process which was nearing completion. “We will resume the supply on Saturday morning,” an official said.
