CHENNAI: The seven-day strike by private sewage tankers opposing the hike in charges for discharging sewage at the Perungudi treatment plant has come to an end. Tanker Association members confirmed that they withdrew the strike on Sunday afternoon after Metro Water Board officials agreed to bring down the charges from Rs 250 to Rs 150.
Around 1,500 private sewage tankers had stopped service since December 3 after the discharge fees for one load of sewage was hiked from Rs 100 to Rs 250 at Perungudi Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), where one load of sewage was charged Rs 100 for the past 10 years or more.
D Ravi, member of Private Sewage Tanker Lorry Association said that local politicians met officials two days back, during which negotiation talks were held to bring down the charges. “South Chennai MP J Jayavardhan, former MLA KP Kannan and former MLA from Chitalapakkam, C Rajendran, spoke to the officials about lowering the charges. Metro Water officials agreed to our demands and only increased it to Rs 150,” he said.
Though it’s only a slight increase in charges, association members said that the cost of hiring sewage tankers by residents will be increased from Rs 30 to Rs 50. “We will soon have a meeting to discuss how much more we will be charging the residents. Nothing is decided as of now,” added Ravi.
Residents living along OMR, ECR and southern suburbs of Tambaram, Guduvancherry, Selaiyur have been heavily dependent on private tankers due to lack of underground pipe connections. In 2014, Metro Water promised to lay underground water and sewerage connections for the stretch from Perungudi to Shollinganallur.