Chennai: Litres of water wasted, Metro Water’s passive attitude under fire

CHENNAI: The residents of Chennai, unfortunately, are no strangers to water scarcity in the past summers. However, the people of Madhavaram lament that the city's Metro Water board seems not to have learnt from the hardships, as several litres of water are being wasted every day due to mismanagement of pipelines.

In the past month, residents witnessed massive quantities of water leaking from the damaged Metro Water pipelines and freely flowing onto the streets. "It is disheartening to see so much water being wasted daily," said M Gemini, a resident of Meenakshi Nagar 4th cross street (Ward 24).

"Most residents here have experienced water scarcity in the past. We couldn't stand that several litres of water were being wasted because of the officials' lethargic attitude," he said.

The underground Metro Water lines were disrupted when the city corporation took up stormwater drainage works. The Metro Water Board (CMWSSB) had resumed supply without the repair of the disrupted lines, resulting in leakage and flooding on several streets in the area, he added.

Another resident, on the condition of anonymity, shared that all the houses in the locality were dependent on groundwater and packaged drinking water due to the lapses in the Metro Water line.

B Rajan, the ward councillor, clarified to DT Next that he had filed a complaint with the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Metro Water Board and was assured by the officials that the leakage would be stopped.

A CMWSSB official told DT Next that the board is testing pipelines to arrest leakages. "We asked the local body about the damage to the pipelines, but received no response. So we took up the repair ourselves and the works are under way. It should be over by the end of the month," the official said.