CHENNAI: Due to lack of water supply for nearly a week, about 50 women from the Perumbakkam resettlement colony staged a protest outside the TNSCB office in the locality on Tuesday.
A video shared by residents to Express showed that the group of people stood outside the office and refused to leave until the water supply was restored. They were also seen arguing with officials.“For one week, there has been no water. They’ve not filled the sump and whenever we asked, they said there’s no water,” lamented R Kamala, a resident of Perumbakkam, who was part of the protests.
Broken pipes
The residents said that the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board did not arrange for Metro Water services too. “There are around 96 families in a block and each family has five members. Without one drop of water supply, we have suffered enough,” she said.
Residents alleged that all the Metro Water pipes were broken in the terrace and water was seen leaking in abundance. They also said, even when there is a water supply, it comes only for one or two days a week.
This has been a persistent issue and TNIE had reported last year on how residents had suffered without water and electricity in Perumbakkam.
As lifts were also not working, the families found it difficult to climb four or five floors carrying water pots to clean their houses.Meanwhile, TNSCB officials told Express that water supply has been resumed after the protests and they will ensure no further problem arises.
Evictions in the pipeline
Officials plan to evict more families from the banks of Cooum. On Monday, a demolition drive began near Island Ground’s Sathyavani Muthu Nagar and Indira Gandhi Nagar. The evictions were stalled early January after stiff resistance from people who had asked for four months extension till the end of the academic year. Since last month, more than 500 people have been evicted and around 1,500 families are yet to be evicted from the locality — one of the oldest and largest slums situated alongside the banks of Cooum River.