CHENNAI: Infrastructure required to ensure uninterrupted water supply to Mathur, in North Chennai, is crumbling, with motors being stolen and pump rooms encroached upon.
To make matters worse, the Tamil Nadu Housing Board has been delaying the transfer of infrastructure to Chennai Metro Water. The Metro Water has undertaken the Mathur water supply scheme at a cost of Rs 38.75 crore. In February, they began works to construct a 12 lakh litre overhead tank and 2 lakh litre underground tank, along with the distribution network. The project, taken up under AMRUT scheme of the Centre, is slated for completion by January 2021.
For the scheme, Metro Water had sought control of 4 of the 32 borewells maintained by TNHB in the area, along with accompanying pipelines and pump rooms.
“In total, Metro Water had opted for 14 borewells and pump rooms, for future use,” officials said. “These borewells were our only source of water till 2004,” says RS Babu, secretary of Mathur MMDA welfare association. Now, however, none of these 32 borewells are usable. Motors in almost all the pump rooms have been stolen. In many cases, the pump rooms have been encroached upon.
One of the pump rooms which Express visited had been transformed into a garden by people in the adjoining house. “In early 2000s, the area was rich in groundwater. So we did not notice when the pumps started going missing, one after another,” says CM Ramesh, an association member. “Now that there is a shortage, we are feeling the pinch.”
“We already had infrastructure in place. If it was maintained well, it would have ensured good water supply for us till date,” says Neelamegam, another resident. When enquired, TNHB officials confirmed they had received request from the Metro Water, and approval was pending.
“We are waiting for green signal from TNHB,” says a Metro Water official. “So far we have not received any official confirmation to take over the borewells and accompanying infrastructure. Left with no choice, we may have to rebuild them.”