CHENNAI: A giant pipeline has been discharging gallons of raw sewage into Buckingham Canal 24x7 at Palavakkam here. Worse still, none of the officials concerned know who built it, when and the source of untreated waste. Considering the rusty condition of the pipeline or conduit, it seems to have been laid a few years ago.
All these days, silt deposits covered the entire pipeline, but the good rain in the past few days exposed a major portion of the conduit. The pipeline, made of metal alloy, had been built along the canal waters. It was evident that the liquid gushing out of it was raw sewage when Express visited the spot. Though it is not new for Buckingham Canal to take raw sewage, the quantum of discharge at Palavakkam is puzzling.
Local residents charge that the conduit carries raw sewage from some of the corporate firms and multi-storied residential complexes on the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). Sabastian of Palavakkam says he had complained about the illegality before the Palavakkam panchayat, but no action was taken. “The foul smell, especially during mornings, is unbearable,” he says, and warned there was risk of epidemic outbreak, this being flu season.
S Indira Gandhi, District Environmental Engineer, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), Maraimalai Nagar, says it might be the outlet of Perungudi Sewage Treatment Plant and that the water being discharged is treated. “We mapped the entire South Buckingham Canal stretch recently. There is no such illegal sewer.
However, I will send a team to inspect the area.” She says a majority of the corporate firms on OMR have inhouse sewage treatment facility and recycle it for gardening and other purposes. “I don’t rule out the possibility of some residential complexes discharging sewage into the canal. I will inquire,” Gandhi assures. However, a top official of Perungudi STP rejects ownership of the pipeline in question. “It can’t be ours.
The STP outlet into Buckingham Canal is two km away from Perungudi. We don’t have an outlet near Palavakkam,” he says. Perungudi STP has a capacity of 128 million litres a day (MLD) and on an average 300-350 lorries discharge sewage accounting for about 3.5 MLD, which will be treated and released into the canal. Beyond Perungudi, there are several IT firms and high-rise residential buildings, which do not have underground drainage facility. Private tankers collect waste and often discharge it in waterbodies during odd hours.
Shocked NGT wants new body to maintain canals
CHENNAI: The southern bench of National Green Tribunal on Wednesday said there was a need for a dedicated body or trust to oversee the maintenance and efficient working of the restoration process of all four waterways in the city. Social activist and petitioner Jawaharlal Shanmugam submitted photographs of the illegal pipeline at Palavakkam to the tribunal.
In response, the bench expressed shock and slammed the authorities for abetting the illegal act. The bench, comprising Justice P Jyothimani and expert member PS Rao, directed the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, TNPCB and Greater Chennai Corporation to furnish particulars of the volume of sewage generated and how it is discharged by all buildings on either side of the canal along both OMR and ECR. The case has been posted for October 3.