CHENNAI: As floodwaters recede across the city, residents are faced with another challenge — inflated charges quoted by private cleaning companies. Residents, particularly senior citizens allege that private firms have nearly doubled their charges, making clean-up work an expensive affair. With nearly three lakh houses hit by floodwaters in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts, residents are pumping out water and are looking for cleaning services.
“I am living with my wife as our children are working in New Delhi. To maintain our house and the premises, we usually engage a private cleaning company. Once a month, they clean the house and the premises, including the toilets, and charge Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 based on the work. However, we are unable to contact our regular cleaning firm. When we approached other companies online, they quoted Rs 7,500. Since we are old, we have no choice but to pay,” K Subramanian, a septuagenarian resident of Perumbakkam told TNIE.
A resident of Pallikaranai, M Suresh said, “We usually pay Rs 4,000 to get our house cleaned. Flood water mixed with sewage is posing a challenge for us. In many areas, including Velachery, Sholinganallur, ECR and areas in north Chennai, people have been struggling to clean their houses. This has added to the unforeseen expenditure, apart from the damage caused by floodwaters to furniture, vehicles and other property.”
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, workers at a private cleaning firm said, “Over the past few days, we have received many calls from residents for clean-up work. Due to the lack of manpower, we were unable to attend to all calls. So we have assigned 25 labourers temporarily.”
“If it is a single-bedroom house, we will take an hour and a half to complete the work. It increases to three houses for a two or three-bedroom house. Now, we are working at least 14-16 hours a day, covering four to five houses daily,” he added.
Stating that some of his colleagues are facing health issues due to water stagnation, the worker urged the government to organise special medical camps for cleaning staff. “Our packages, which include deep cleaning, wiping and mopping, starts at Rs 4,019 and go up to Rs 9,500 depending on the space. We have not increased our rates, but due to the cyclone’s impact, our work has increased. Therefore, we are additionally charging between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000,” a home cleaning service provider told TNIE.