Change in season or inundation are not the only reasons for recurring sewage issues in north Chennai. Sewage flows over roads and pipelines get choked frequently in many densely populated northern parts of the city. While many interventions have been made in the past to address the chronic issues, north Chennai still awaits a comprehensive solution to be free of sewage-related issues. There is a dire need to replace the pipes laid during British rule with those having double their carrying capacity.
Residents point to the huge gaps between infrastructure and the needs of the dense population in the areas, including Perambur, Pulianthope, Choolai, Otteri and Pattalam. While the situation has slightly improved from the previous years and complaints of blocks and overflow are being addressed regularly, a permanent solution is what the residents are looking for. Frequent sewer overflows plague parts of Brick Kiln Road in Otteri; Decastor Road and adjoining Mannarsamy Street and Narayanasamy Street in Pulianthope; Sydenhams Road and adjoining T.K. Mudali Street in Choolai; and Demellows Road and Pattalam Market and Purasawalkam High Road.
‘The area is always dirty’
Kamal, a resident of Decastor Road, says sewage often stagnates on Mannarsamy Street, causing hardship to residents. “The area is always dirty.” A resident of Narayanasamy Street says sewage flows over the roads after every spell of rain. “This has been a problem for 10 years. When sewage stagnates, it poses a health risk. The sewer and storm-water drain networks must be proper.”
According to Lokabiraman, of Jamalia Nagar, areas in and around Perambur High Road — such as Cooks Road, Brick Kiln Road, Krishnadas Road, SBI Officers Colony 1 and 2, Jamalia Nagar, Jamalia Link Road, Hyder Garden Main Street — grapple with this problem.
“In Zone 6, the sewer lines are more than 60 years old. We have submitted representations for replacement of the sewer lines. The pipes are corroded and clearing the blocks with jet-rodding machines does not help much. Engineers who made an inspection recently said the work would be executed under a scheme for development of north Chennai. The question is how long it will take to happen,” Mr. Lokabiraman asks.
Whenever there is heavy rain, sewage flows over parts of GKM Colony, V.V. Nagar and Poompuhar Nagar, says S. Venugopal, a social activist at Kolathur. “As a temporary solution, workers drain the stagnant sewage into the storm-water drains.” He, however, points out that nowadays, Metrowater attends to complaints of sewer overflow immediately. Complaints of sewage overflow persist in some areas of Old Washermanpet and Sharma Nagar. A few days ago, the problem occurred on the Second Street of Pensioners’ Lane and First Main Road of Sharma Nagar, residents say.
‘Dumping of waste is the reason’
D. Ganeshan, of Tondiarpet, says that even walking on New Vaithiyanathan Street and Elaya Street at Tondiarpet becomes difficult when sewage overflows from maintenance holes. The problem occurs once a fortnight or a month, and it takes a week to rectify it. He wants stringent action against dumping of waste, especially in market areas, that leads to the choking of sewers.
There are complaints of water contamination, too, in parts of north Chennai. Recently, residents of 57th Street at Sidco Nagar in Villivakkam wrote to Metrowater about sewage seeping from the sewers into the borewells. The inadequacies in the sewer system have also had a cascading effect on major waterways. Restoration of North Buckingham Canal would not be wholistic unless the sewerage undergoes a drastic change, according to officials of the Water Resources Department.
A peek into the history of the city’s sewerage reveals that the network laid in north Chennai was the oldest. The proposal for a comprehensive sewerage scheme was designed in 1907 and implemented in 1914. According to Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), the system then had a network of brick gravity sewers, served by the pumping stations at Royapuram, Purasawalkam and Napier Park, and discharged wastewater into the sea at Kasimedu.
The network had modifications and additions over the decades since 1956, and the city was divided into zones for sewage collection, treatment and disposal. Zone I of the sewerage network covered the oldest parts of the city, including Tondiarpet and Royapuram, which were linked to the Kodungaiyur treatment plant. Starting with a capacity to treat 80 million litres a day (mld), the plant now has a capacity of 270 mld. This plant treats sewage collected from north and parts of central Chennai, which now generate 225 mld of sewage.
Metrowater has recently added a tertiary treatment reverse osmosis plant of 45-mld capacity at Kodungaiyur to supply treated water to industrial belt in north Chennai.
To keep pace with the growing demand and meet the needs of the expanding city, the water agency has hired Sai Consultants to study the decades-old sewerage in the core parts of the city and recommend improvements. The consultant will identify the chronically affected areas and recommend improvements.
The exercise is expected to be completed in two or three months. The State government has also asked Metrowater to prepare proposals under Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam for comprehensive improvement of the sewer and water supply network in north Chennai, up to Anna Nagar and Kolathur.
The network to be modified
Metrowater officials say that proposals are being chalked out to strengthen and modify the network in north Chennai. The capacity of the sewage pumping stations will be enhanced and the left-out streets will be covered. The proposals will address the needs in the added areas like Manali and Sekkadu and aim to reduce pollution in the waterways in the long run.
To resolve the issue of water contamination, Metrowater is experimenting with robots to patrol the network in some zones and detect leaks. Technology using helium gas to check for leaks in the pipelines is being tried out in areas like Vyasarpadi.
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