CHENNAI: Residents of Keelkattalai are dismayed over the stench from sewage overflow along the 200-foot radial road and into the lake. The highways department is carrying out stormwater drain works on both sides along the road from Pallavarai Eri to Keelkattalai. Near Perumal Nagar in Keelkattalai where SWD work is underway, water from the underground drain is being diverted through an open temporary canal dug along the road.
However, sewage from a damaged underground sewer has been entering the canal. Over the past few days, residents have been alleging that sewage is getting overflowing on the road and entering the Keelkattalai Lake.
Residents allege that the highways department had damaged an underground sewer which led to the leak. “SWD work has been going on for the last few years. Now, sewage is flowing into the temporary canal, overflowing onto the road and also falling into the lake. The stench is unbearable and officials are not giving us a proper answer,” said Madan, a resident of Keelkattalai.
Due to the excess flow of sewage, foam is seen in the open canal, residents alleged. Talking to TNIE, a worker engaged in SWD work said surplus water from the Pallavaram lake itself is mixed with sewage which is polluting the Keelkattalai lake.
However, activists alleged illegal sewage discharge at a few other places. “Raw sewage is pumped from a collection well of UGD in English Electric Nagar in Keelkattalai into the surplus canal which connects to the Keelkattalai lake. This practice is continuing unabated and even underground drainage in some areas is faulty,” said David Manohar, a resident and activist.
A ruling party councillor in Tambaram Corporation requesting anonymity said, “The highways department is solely responsible for the problem. It has been delaying the work for more than four years and sewer lines are broken in many places due to the ongoing work. They have to expedite the work.”
Tambaram corporation officials, however, dismissed the allegations of illegal discharge but acknowledged sewer line damage due to SWD works. “The highways department should have fixed these. But we are fixing the damage wherever found. As of now, there is no issue of sewage discharge into the lake,” an official said.