CHENNAI: Pallavaram municipality’s struggle with sewage has been a long drawn one. Although the municipality claimed before the National Green Tribunal that sewage outfalls have been blocked, it was found freely flowing into the Keelkattalai surplus canal on Friday.
The inflow of sewage into the canal that eventually pollutes the Pallikaranai marsh has been reported by TNIE on multiple occasions. Most recently, sewage was found being let out from the Keelkattalai pumping station on Friday. On Saturday, TNIE visited the pumping station to find out why sewage continues to flow to the canal.
The station has five pipes, of which, two are under repair. Sources reported issues with non-return valves and motors. The pipes must carry the sewage from Pallavaram and Nanmangalam areas for over 10 km to Perungudi sewage treatment plant. But, they are worn out and ill-equipped for this task.
The most recent leak on Friday, said staff, was due to the pipes being punctured in an excavation activity near its outlet in Perungudi. While this issue has been resolved, the degraded pipes are in no condition to keep sewage from flowing into nearby waterbodies.
According to staff, 13 patchworks have been undertaken in the pipes so far, in just the 1km stretch from the pumping station. Power back up at the station is enough to power only two pipes in case of an outage. In case of a failure, it is let out into the canal as an ‘emergency’ measure.
Residents there have been fighting the issue for years now. The federation of Sunnambu Kolathur residents associations have written to the CM seeking a permanent solution. “While submitting a report to the NGT, the TN Pollution Control Board collected water samples from Keelkattalai and Narayanapuram lakes and reported there is no sewage pollution. They must collect samples from the canal instead,” said J Sankar, a resident.
A senior official from the Pallavaram municipality said they are working on a proposal to revamp sewage disposal structure at an estimated `40 crore. “It also includes a plan to carry sewage from Nanmangalam directly to the Perungudi treatment plant. Once implemented, the sewage issues will not arise,” the official said.