Broken canal floods roads with sewage at Kilambakkam

Kilambakkam comes under Urapakkam village panchayat, one of the fast-developing areas in the southern suburbs. According to panchayat officials, more than 3,000 families live in this neighbourhood and work in nearby organisations. 

K Shanthi, a resident of Kilambakkam, said that for the past three months, their roads have been filled with sewage water and they have no choice but walk through it. “We have no other option as the roads are completely flooded,” she said. 

According to residents, the sewage water flows through a canal near railway tracks. “But the canal was damaged three months ago and since then, the sewage water has been flowing on to the streets. It even stagnates in front of our homes. Since it is rainy season, this leads to breeding of mosquitoes, besides posing grave health hazards,” said Elangovan, another resident. 

Besides this, some of the residents alleged that a few of the apartments in their area are letting wastewater from their buildings into vacant plots and even onto the road. “We visited the Urapakkam panchayat office and requested the officials to take steps to clear the stagnant water from streets many times, but officials have not even visited our place yet,” Elangovan added.  

When contacted, N Karunakaran, Urapakkam village panchayat secretary, said that they tried to repair the canal but were stopped by Railway authorities as it flowed through their land. “We have asked the Railways to repair the canal by themselves or allow us to do the cleaning work. Talks are on and soon the problem will be solved,” he said.