CHENNAI: Sewage from local industry and the houses are being directly let into a pond in southern suburbs of Chennai for the last few days. The local residents say this has rapidly deteriorated the condition of the Pillayar Koil pond at Thalambur, Navalur, which is an upcoming residential area off the city's IT corridor on Old Mahabalipuram Road.
The underlying reason was the absence of an underground drainage system in the locality and usually the sewage was just let into the open stormwater drains, which are originally meant to drain the rainwater. These drains until recently was taking the sewage to a land of about 15 grounds. Earlier this week, a path was cut allegedly by a few local individuals to let the water drain from this land into the Pillayar koil pond.
“A few residents, who I think are trying to encroach the open space, had tried to let the sewage drain into the lake twice before. But a few residents associations protested and didn’t let that happen,” said
Ivan I of Roomscapes the Village owners association, a residents' association of a gated community nearby. “However, this time. They had brought a few other local people for support and so there was nothing we could do,” he said.
According to local residents, sewage from a nearby water bottling company, along with that from local residences, ensures that the stormwater drain is always full “Whether there is rain or not, the storm
water drain is always full,” said Ivan.
When contacted the Block Development Officer of Thalambur said that he would inspect the area on Thursday and push for further action based on what he finds. “If the problem stems from a lack of underground drainage system, we’ll see if we can send a proposal to the collector,” said the officer, who did not want to be named.