More than 1,750 families residing in Phase III of Sathuvachari that comes under Ward 19 and 20 of the Vellore Corporation are demanding the renovation of drainage pits that were constructed nearly two-and-a-half decades ago.
The residential area was formed by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board twenty seven years back, which had dug a 2.5-feet-deep pit outside the houses and all the pipelines from the houses were connected and let into the pit. The drainage line along the street was connected to the pit.
Sethuraman, a resident of Netaji Bose Road in Ward 19, said,“The drainage waste enters the houses and the pipelines should be heightened.” The situation was bad during the rainy season and the pits overflowed in the street, he added. People complained about the blockages in pipelines that led to the connecting pit.
Councillor of Ward 20, R P E Sasikumar, said,“The houses were built with only two rooms those days and so there was no provision to construct a septic tank inside the house. The drainage line that flows along the street would finally mix in a big septic tank located in Phase IV.”
He said a fund of Rs 9 lakh has been allotted for heightening the pit by a foot and renovating the walls. Tenders had been called in for and the work order issued. The work for 250 houses in the ward would start by next week, he added.
E Pushpavalli, councillor of Ward 19, complained that the pits had become old andneeded renovation. She also said that more than 700 houses in her ward had such drainage system. She said the current 4-inch pipes should also be replaced with 8-inch ones, as they were unable to hold the pressure due to the population and got blocked.often.