TIRUCHY: Efforts are on to speed up underground drainage (UGD) works in the city, and most senior officials expect them to be completed within a month or two. While this is a huge relief for residents, it is a matter of concern for desludging operators in the city, most of whom claim that the project would hit their livelihood.
As a result, they've now shifted focus to rural areas of Tiruchy and neighbouring districts. "When the septic tank lines from residential or commercial buildings get connected to the UGD system, the residents are unlikely to face many complaints.
Those tanks connected to the UGD system would need our service only if it faces some blockage. They may not have to worry about the tanks getting filled. Therefore, the UGD system would reduce our work opportunities and some of us have started to focus on rural areas," said Manikandan, a desludging operator in the city. With so much uncertainty surrounding their future, some of the operators have begun taking efforts to sell their desludging vehicles.
"At present, there are about 30 desludging operators in the city, most of them focusing largely on working in the city. When the UGD system reduces the work opportunities, these operators may have to start offering the work for low rates like Rs 1,000 instead of the usual Rs 2,000 for septic tank cleaning, which would increase their liabilities.
Therefore, I have decided to sell my vehicle. I spent around Rs 19 lakh for the vehicles and hope that I would get a fair price by selling it. Several desludging operators in the city are trying to sell their vehicles to operators in rural areas. We're faced with such a decision as we are left with no other option," said S Ranganathan, a desludging operator based in Srirangam.
Some desludging operators have remarked that the government should come up with a rehabilitation package for them. "The government should consider offering financial aid for the desludging operators, since it would help us get into some other business. Otherwise, many of us risk facing huge liabilities," said K Babu, who has been in the business for over 12 years.