GCC to tighten action against illegal sewer connections

In a circular dated October 25 issued by Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Chennai Corporation Commissioner, zonal officers were instructed to plug the illegal sewer connections to stormwater drains and to issue notice and impose fines on the offenders. 

According to the circular, Bedi inspected stormwater drain work at Royapuram and Tondiarpet zones on September 9. “During the inspection, many illegal sewage outlets from adjacent premises were found,” the circular said. 

As per an amendment in Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act 1919, penalty should be imposed on persons letting sewer into stormwater drains. The amendment was made in 2017. The amendment empowers the zonal officers to impose penalty from Rs 5,000 to Rs 2 lakh depending on the type of buildings. 

However, the civic body failed to carry out any large scale plugging of sewer lines from stormwater drains resulting in overflow and flooding during rains. “Measures were taken to identity illegal sewer connections a few years ago. In some locations, illegal sewer connections were removed and rainwater from stormwater drains was let into lakes,” an official said. 

Meanwhile, the civic body completed desilting of stormwater drains ahead of the monsoon. As per the data, stormwater drains for a total length of 774 kilometres were taken up for desilting. Of the total length, works were ongoing on 7 kilometres as of Tuesday. 

On the other hand, manhole replacement and repairing works are yet to be completed. Of the 948 manholes identified for repair, only 477 manholes have been repaired. Similarly, as many as 6,891 manholes were identified for replacement. As of Tuesday, 4,527 manholes were replaced.