CHENNAI: Every house in RR Nagar slum in Kodungaiyur knows Godzilla. Packets of citronella incense sticks named Godzilla double as a mosquito repellent in the hundreds of houses between Chennai’s largest corporation dump yard and Captain Cotton Canal, ever since a massive infestation of water hyacinth surfaced the channel two months back.
Daily wage workers, who live in the tiny slum settlements, spend about a third of their monthly income to buy these sticks that come in packets of Rs 15. D Devarathi, a 63-year-old widow, pulls out a notepad, in which she notes the everyday debt she owes the local grocery shop. “I spent over Rs 3,000 in July alone to buy the repellent,” she said while adding the figures.
Ever since the canal was clogged by hyacinths, the day is spent swatting house flies and night by killing mosquitoes, she rues standing in front of her hut beside the canal. “Without these repellents, we will not be able to live here,” she says. Water hyacinth or Eichhornia crassipes is a free-floating perennial aquatic plant that is extremely invasive and pollutes the water it grows in drastically.
Another single mother, K Ammu, says that she burns at least one packet of Godzilla every day, which is Rs 4,500 a month, to keep mosquitoes away. “My daughter, who works at the plastic company is the only earning member of the family. She earns Rs 15,000 a month,” says Ammu. Her neighbours present a similar math.
She adds that many people, particularly children, wake up with a bad throat and itchy skin after sleeping in a closed room with the incense stick burning. “We can’t afford the expensive repellents shown in advertisements and mosquitoes don’t die in circular coils,” she says.While residents of Kodungaiyur are already facing the wrath of dust winds from the dump yard, and bad smell from the canal that carries toxins from it, the hyacinth has only worsened their living standards. “At least three people in my street have had diarrhea in the last week, and many more have fever,” said K Renuka, a resident, adding that women fall sick more often, as they stay at home.
Residents from multiple slums along different railway lines were relocated near the Kodungaiyur dump yard over the years. “We were brought here by the government. Although we are placed near the dump yard, there are no dustbins in the neighbourhoods, and so people dump their waste along the canal addng to the problem,” she rues, adding that the Corporation does not ensure proper sanitation in the area.The water hyacinth was removed over five months ago and the entire canal is clogged since the first rain in July, says Renuka. “Hyacinth from upstream accumulates here, every time there is rain, as the canal narrows here to join the Buckingham Canal,” she says.
A local Corporation health official, who did not want to be identified, says that the cleaning work was started last month, but residents argued that only a small portion was removed, and the work was abandoned midway. “Even if one plant is left behind, it grows quickly. Even if they (Corporation) clean a small portion, it’s only for a day. The work is meaningless as it grows back in a week unless everything is cleared,” she says.
Another zonal Corporation official said that the Corporation does not have enough equipment to clean it. “The robotic cleaner is currently being used to clear another water body. We don’t have enough equipment. Manual cleaning will take a long time,” the official says. Ram Murugan, another resident, shares that at least three people died of dengue last monsoon because of the mosquitoes that bred during the hyacinth infestation. “If the government does not take swift action, this year will not be any different,” he says.