Chennai: Overflowing sewage for 15 days forces Vyasarpadi residents to hold road roko

CHENNAI: Women and children conducted a road roko at Vyasarpadi demanding the local body repair the damaged sewer pipeline, which has been overflowing and stagnating on the streets for over two weeks.

Residents of Nethaji Nagar, Vyasarpadi, alleged that they have been forced to bear the stench emanating from stagnant sewage water for the past 15 days.

“Due to the unhygienic situation, children and senior citizens are falling ill with fever. And, the stench is unbearable,” lamented the residents.

A shopkeeper in the locality explained, “The Greater Chennai Corporation is re-laying the road at Nethaji Nagar First Street. While doing the job, the contractor broke an underground sewage pipe line two weeks ago. Since then, the drainage water has been overflowing and stagnating on the street. GCC and Metro Water officials know about the problem, and yet, have failed to rectify it.”

Fed-up with the lackadaisical attitude of the officials, more than 100 residents conducted a road roko on Tuesday. “We’ve tried several times to register a complaint about the problem with the GCC and CMWSSB, but officials in both departments blamed each other and told us that it wasn’t their jurisdiction. So, we decided to hold a road roko,” fumed a homemaker.

Soon, workers from the Metro Water board cleared the drainage through a sucking machine and also changed the damaged manhole cover of the drain to arrest further overflow.

A CMWSSB official said, “Since the road re-laying work is underway, we were not in a position to repair the pipeline. Once it’s completed, we’ll rectify the damage permanently.”

When contacted, a GCC official told DT Next, “We’ve asked the contractor to hasten the work and complete it quickly. Soon, the issue will be resolved.”