Tail end blocks at Perumbakkam suffering without water
CHENNAI: Lack of water supply to the tail end blocks of Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements at Perumbakkam have forced menstruating women to leave to their relatives’ homes to keep themselves free from infection. To the blocks 65,66 and some houses of block 64, which together house over 200 families resettled from mainly Konnur High road and Chintadripet, water, in limited quantities, is supplied once in over 10 days, said residents. “We get around five pots a family. It’s barely enough for cooking and domestic use for two days. I have not bathed in three days,” said Suresh, a resident and liftman in block 65.
Women, however, suffer the most. “To stay clean during the three to four days that I menstruate, I shift to my parents’ house. Many residents here who have friends or relatives in the neighbouring blocks that get comparatively more water, stay there,” said Revathi (name changed), a 26-year-old mother of two. While some residents manage to collect a few pots of water from the neighbouring blocks, those staying in the fourth floor or upwards in the eight-storeyed building have no way to carry the water to their houses since carrying water pots in the lift is not permitted.
Said 79-year-old Buvaneswari, “We are not from opulence. We never were. But, I have never before come to the situation where I have to save water that I used to wash and rinse clothes for the toilet use I do now.” Saranya (name changed) who calls herself a religious woman said, “In all these years, I have not entered the kitchen without bathing when I’m on my periods. Now, I bathe once in three or four days and go to my husband’s friend’s house to shower.”
Children in these blocks go to school, sometimes even without brushing their teeth, she said. Numerous complaints since the last seven months have fallen on deaf ears, said residents. “We can stay without food. How can we stay without water” asked 65-year-old Santhi. Water supplied to other blocks of Perumbakkam, especially to the blocks along the main road are relatively more consistent, said residents.
“Non access to basic amenities is a human rights violation, TNSCB should form grievance redressal committees to ensure that the issues are redressed within a specific timeline,” said Vanessa Peter, policy researcher, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC).
When contacted, a slum clearance board official said that a leakage in the distribution pipe and lack of pressure are the main reasons for the tail end blocks barely receiving any water. “We are trying to fix the leak. The main pipe has a diameter of 450 mm and has a leak at the point where it bends. So it takes some time to attend to it,” the official said.
Hit hard
Water is supplied only once in 10 days to blocks 65, 66 and some houses of block 64 of TNSCB tenements at Perumbakkam
The blocks house over 200 families
So bad is the situation that women are forced to live in other blocks where there is water or move to their relatives’ houses elsewhere when they menstruate
Children go to school without brushing their teeth or bathing
Officials blame leaky pipes