CHENNAI: A three-acre site belonging to Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department on Selaiyur-Chitlapakkam border has become a health hazard for residents in the abutting area for the past five years.
The site which has become a collection point for part of East Tambaram’s sewage is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and snakes. The reptiles find their way into houses in the vicinity.
“Just last week, we watched as a snake climbed into our compound from the HR&CE land,” said K Srinivasan, a resident of Sethunarayanan road, who is separated from the knee-deep sewage lake by a five-foot compound wall.
“We don’t know how many come and go when we aren’t watching,” said his wife, whose face showed visible signs of desperation.
A few doors down along Sethunarayanan Road, Pradeep Manavalan explains how the mosquito menace is not limited to the late evenings and nights like the rest of the city.
“We have mosquitos throughout the day and can’t enjoy a conversation on the porch,” he said.
His neighbour, S Vinayagamurthy, secretary of an apartment complex, says groundwater has started deteriorating and despite repeated visits from bureaucrats and politicians, the situation has not changed.
When Express contacted the HR&CE regarding the stagnation of sewage in their land, they said they tried draining it a few years ago by emptying loads of sand at the site.
“Since the flow of sewage is too much, the effort was futile,” said an official at the HR&CE office in the city.
The HR&CE has also shunned the Tambaram Municipality from constructing an underground drain along the land to avoid collection of sewage.
“We coordinated with Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat in 2016 to build an underground drain along the HR&CE land to ensure the residents don’t face trouble. However, the HR&CE didn’t respond to our requests,” said a junior engineer from Tambaram Municipality.