THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A drainage burst has been causing intense hardships to shopkeepers and residents on the busy Padmavilasom Road, which is just a stone’s throne away from the high-profile Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple.
On Saturday evening, the drain pipe burst again, plump in the middle of the road, spewing out waste water and a horrible stench. Many shopkeepers even downed shutters early on Saturday owing to this. Repeated complaints have fallen on deaf ears, alleged the harried traders and the local residents’ association on Sunday morning.
"When we complain to the authorities, someone comes on a bicycle and pokes around, and leaves. Sometimes, it goes phut within hours of the repair, as it occurred on Saturday. This has been going on for nearly two months,’’ said Devan, manager of the Seetha Provision Store situated next to the leak.
"Yesterday, two people came around 5.30 p.m. for repairs after we complained. By 7 p.m., it was the same old story. Many of the shops here downed shutters early because of the stench,’’ he said.
Shops on the road, which has bylanes leading to the northern entrance of the temple, open on Sundays, but they kept the shutters down this time as the foul water flooded the road and nearby lanes leading to residential areas. The drainage leaked throughout the night and on Sunday morning too, water was gushing out as if from a small geyser.
"The smell is so terrible that we cannot remain in our homes. The dirty water has been flooding the small lanes leading to houses,’’ said Santhosh S K, secretary of the Padma Nagar Residents’ Association. "Just imagine. This is one of the busy venues for offering the Attukal Pongala next month,’’ he said.
The fact that the leak is on the middle of the road is also causing problems for traffic on this relatively narrow, congested and pothole-ridden road which links the Pazhavangadi Ganapathi Temple Junction to the SP Fort Hospital Junction.