Lid-less sumps pose threat in Perumbakkam
CHENNAI: Water storage sumps in Perumbakkam Slum Board tenements are left open without lids, posing the risk of children falling into it while playing in the vicinity. Express visited the tenements and found water sumps, which are deep enough for a child to drown, left open in most of the blocks.
Many children were seen playing around them. Children also collect water from these sumps that brim with water. A social worker living in the tenements, on condition of anonymity, said that about one-and-a-half years ago, a three-year-old had drowned in one of the sumps. “The child was rescued, but with severe injuries. This is the condition across the tenements.”
Apart from sumps, stormwater drains along the tenements are also left open without lids. Express also found manholes in the area with their lids broken. Residents said that though officials visit the place now and then, the situation has not changed.
Express had in 2019 reported how open drains pose a risk to children’s lives. While a few drains were immediately closed back then, many remain open. When contacted, TNSCB officials said all the open sumps and drains would be closed.