View Larger Map
Sewage from Pallavaram municipality pipeline pollutes groundwater in Kovilambakkam
RELATED
CHENNAI: S Vidhya always wanted to live near a river, so it was a dream come true when she moved into a house in Kovilambakkam
overlooking a water channel five years ago. For the last year, the
unbearable stench from the channel has made life hell for residents like
her.
The stench is from the untreated sewage being discharged into the water channel designed to move surplus water from Kilkattalai lake to Narayanapuram lake and the Pallikaranai marsh.
The 75 crore pipeline project, launched by the Pallavaram municipality to carry sewage generated in households and commercial establishments in Pallavaram to the sewage treatment plant (STP) in Perungudi, is leaking sewage into the channel, sources said. The pipeline passes through Kovilambakkam among other areas.
Commissioner of Pallavaram municipality S Ramamurthy said the pipeline was not wide enough to carry the sewage. "There are several other defects and we are working to rectify them," he said.
Activists smell a scam in the project that was initially estimated in 2006 to cost Rs 42 crore and later escalated to Rs 75.3 crore after it was completed in 2012. "There should be an inquiry to bring out the truth behind the cost escalation. How did the cost increase without the project serving any purpose," asked M Thuyamurthy, an RTI activist.
Kovilambakkam panchayat residents say the discharge of untrated sewage has polluted the groundwater. "We manage our sewage using septic tanks but never imagined that a sewage system meant for residents of the neighbouring municipality will be a serious pollution issue for us," said Vidhya.
Environmentalists said the continuous discharge of sewageis also posing a threat to the adjoining Pallikaranai marsh, which is home to 61 species of plants,46 species of fish,112 types of birds, 21 species of reptiles and seven types of butterflies, and is also the last of the wetlands in the region.
Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board or Metrowater, which prepared a detailed report and executed the pipeline project said it is no longer responsible. "We handed it over to the Pallavaram municipality two years ago. It is now their responsibility to attend to such complaints," said an engineer of Metrowater.
Kovilambakkam residents said they have filed petitions with 12 government departments on the problem in vain. A Balasubramanian, a member of the residents' welfare association of Engineers' Avenue in Kovilambakkam, said, the mosquitoes breeding in the sewage had compounded the problem.
"We can't open windows during the day or night without swarms of mosquitoes flying in. The Pallavaram municipality has flouted all environmental laws and is causing severe pollution in the locality," he said.
According to a recent report released by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, 80% of the sewage generated in the country flows untreated into rivers, lakes and ponds rendering the water unfit for use.
The stench is from the untreated sewage being discharged into the water channel designed to move surplus water from Kilkattalai lake to Narayanapuram lake and the Pallikaranai marsh.
The 75 crore pipeline project, launched by the Pallavaram municipality to carry sewage generated in households and commercial establishments in Pallavaram to the sewage treatment plant (STP) in Perungudi, is leaking sewage into the channel, sources said. The pipeline passes through Kovilambakkam among other areas.
Commissioner of Pallavaram municipality S Ramamurthy said the pipeline was not wide enough to carry the sewage. "There are several other defects and we are working to rectify them," he said.
Activists smell a scam in the project that was initially estimated in 2006 to cost Rs 42 crore and later escalated to Rs 75.3 crore after it was completed in 2012. "There should be an inquiry to bring out the truth behind the cost escalation. How did the cost increase without the project serving any purpose," asked M Thuyamurthy, an RTI activist.
Kovilambakkam panchayat residents say the discharge of untrated sewage has polluted the groundwater. "We manage our sewage using septic tanks but never imagined that a sewage system meant for residents of the neighbouring municipality will be a serious pollution issue for us," said Vidhya.
Environmentalists said the continuous discharge of sewageis also posing a threat to the adjoining Pallikaranai marsh, which is home to 61 species of plants,46 species of fish,112 types of birds, 21 species of reptiles and seven types of butterflies, and is also the last of the wetlands in the region.
Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board or Metrowater, which prepared a detailed report and executed the pipeline project said it is no longer responsible. "We handed it over to the Pallavaram municipality two years ago. It is now their responsibility to attend to such complaints," said an engineer of Metrowater.
Kovilambakkam residents said they have filed petitions with 12 government departments on the problem in vain. A Balasubramanian, a member of the residents' welfare association of Engineers' Avenue in Kovilambakkam, said, the mosquitoes breeding in the sewage had compounded the problem.
"We can't open windows during the day or night without swarms of mosquitoes flying in. The Pallavaram municipality has flouted all environmental laws and is causing severe pollution in the locality," he said.
According to a recent report released by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, 80% of the sewage generated in the country flows untreated into rivers, lakes and ponds rendering the water unfit for use.
No comments:
Post a Comment