DHARMAPURI: People living around the Municipal Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Dharmapuri town urged the administration to urgently end open urination in broken drainage in the locality.
Located nearly 50 meters from the municipality headquarters, the Municipal Government Girls Higher Secondary School has over 80 students. It is in the broken drainage outside the compound walls of the school that many urinate.
Speaking on the issue, A Kandhasamy, a resident of Sundaram Street said, “For as long as I can remember, people have been using the area as a restroom. There is no check on public urination. This coupled with the broken drain pipes has become a nuisance. It is even worse during the rainy season. We urge the municipality to renovate the drains and undertake a clean-up”.
K Jayaprakash, a shopkeeper, said, “The broken drainages and the open urination are right opposite to the quarters of the municipal commissioner. Yet neither the present commissioner nor his predecessors took any action to rectify this. This shows the negligence of the municipal officials. There have been no efforts to renovate the area or take steps to prevent further degradation.”
Another shopkeeper in the area, R Manigandan said, “This situation has been happening for decades even while municipality restrooms are merely 50 m away. People who exit the bus stand come here to relieve themselves. As the area reeks of odour, it is difficult to even pass by here. The municipality must take stern steps.”
Municipal Commissioner P Bhuvaneshwaran was not available for comment when TNIE attempted to reach out to him. Officials in the municipality said, “We also do not have a solution to the problem. We clean up the area, put up signs warning the people and even spread bleaching powder. But people aren’t cooperative with the efforts of the municipality,” they said.
However, the civic officials said, broken drainages near the school will be fixed soon. Construction of new drains has been planned by the municipality.