TIRUCHY: Putting to doubt the corporation’s claims of regular assessment of water quality and underground drainage work in the city, residents of Nayakkar Street and its bylanes in Edamalaipatti Pudur complain of sewage mixing with the potable water supply over the past one month.
They blame the haphazard way in which UGD work was undertaken in the locality as they complain that it led to damage to the water supply lines. On the issue in the locality whose bylanes cannot be accessed by four-wheelers, Lakshmi, a resident, said, “We don't know whom to approach to sort out the issue.
When we pointed this out to the contractor who took up UGD work in our area, he ignored it. We hence request the corporation’s urgent action on the issue. Otherwise, people in our locality would face health issues by consuming the contaminated water.” While senior officials had in several corporation council meetings assured that such complaints would be taken up on priority, residents of Nayakkar Street said no such things happened in their locality.
Another resident, Mani, said, "After laying the UGD pipelines, the contractor and his team were not ready to clear the sand and gravel. They left them dumped on the road and when we raised the issue, the workers said that the residents had to clear it. We then cleared the gravel and sand in the narrow lanes." When TNIE raised the issue with senior zonal officials, they assured of immediate action.
"We will direct our team to visit the spot at the earliest and action will be taken to sort out the issues. If the contractors made such mistakes, we will take necessary action on them," said a senior official in charge of Ponmalai zone.