TIRUPPUR: Residents of Vellakoil fear outbreak of infections as the recent heavy rain has resulted in water stagnation on many streets of the town. In some areas, sewage mixed with rain water and flowed into farmlands, they alleged.
Vellakoil municipality is spread over 54.87 square kilometers with 21 wards. The town received heavy rain over the last one month, the highest being 130 mm (Nov 12), and 111 mm (Oct 21) respectively. Water is yet to drain from several low lying areas, posing problems to people. R Mani councillor of ward 4, said, “Heavy rain life to complete standstill in Vellakoil. Water is stagnant in the sub registrar office, Veerakumar Koil, Karattupalayam, Kumaravalasu. People are complaining of snakes entering their houses. Authorities failed to anticipate the flooding and did not implement preventive measures. Since water has not drained, there is a high possibility of disease and infections.”
Another councillor said, “Not just streets, farmlands are engulfed with rain water and sewage. The storm water drains in town are connected through a large water channel to reach the Chinnakarai locality. As heavy rains brought more water it overflowed in Sooriyankindathupalayam (ward 8) and spread through farmlands over two kilometer. A few residents illegally drained sewage into rain water. This has caused a health scare.”
R Surjit, a resident said, “Whenever it rains, many streets get flooded, and drains in a few days. But this year, there is water logging in every nook and corner of the town. Besides, there is foul smell from the water and the colour of water is yellowish and green. We realized that sewage has mixed with rainwater.”
But officials of Vellakoil municipality refuted the claims of sewage overflow and blamed the heavy rain.
An official from the municipality said, “Heavy rains with spells of 130 mm and 111 mm were recorded for the first time in Vellakoil. So, the entire municipality was struck. Storm water channels couldn’t handle such huge accumulation in a single day. So, water stagnation was found in all areas of the Municipality. We are using earth movers and workers to drain water from one location to another, after a careful inspection in each spot. Any haste will result in water flooding one locality. The foul smell is not because of sewage mixing with rain water, but due to microbial growth due to prolonged water logging. We are spraying disinfectants to control it.”