TIRUCHY: Residents of Woraiyur are seething in anger and frustration over official apathy after over 50 people in the locality fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea since Saturday and had to be admitted in hospital.
"This is about the negligence we've endured, we have been facing the issue with unclean water for over a year," said Kumar (name changed) a resident of Panickan Street, who got discharged from hospital. His frustration echoes across Pancikan Street and Minnappan Street where most of the people have fallen ill. Though corporation officials claim that eating contaminated food, allegedly served during the Chithirai festival, may be the reason, residents blame the poor quality of drinking water and say the area does not have proper drainage facility which may have caused contamination.
Streets have now been dug up for emergency repairs but locals say it's too late and too reactive. R. Lakshmanan of Minnappan Street pointed to "mindless underground planning" and said, "No one knows where the leaks are or the issue would have been be permanently fixed. Why didn't they notice all these issues before instead of digging up the entire place. All the time officials blame contractors. During rain, the water doesn't drain at all in these narrow channels."
Others like Kaliyamurthy pointed out structural flaws in newly constructed channels. "The mismatch in alignment results in sewage overflow. My house was flooded with waste more than once, and I was down with diarrhoea," he said.
While water samples collected on Monday were declared safe by the Corporation, residents demand accountability.
A senior corporation official said the sewage system and water supply are well separated. He added that upon specific complaints, officials are taking immediate action.
On Wednesday, drinking water was supplied through tankers and pipeline supply is likely to resume on Wednesday, said a corporation official.