TIRUNELVELI: A resident of Thachanallur in Tirunelveli corporation alleged that he received a one-foot-long non-venomous snake in the drinking water supplied through the corporation's pipeline a few days ago. A video of the incident went viral on Sunday.
Mariappan of Thachanallur said, "We released the snake into a canal as there was a delay in the visit by officials." Residents said that the incident took place in Selva Vignesh Nagar.
Residents within the corporation limits receive drinking water from wells on the Thamirabarani riverbed in Ariyanayagipuram, Manappadaiveedu, Kurukkuthurai, and Kondanagaram. They alleged that they often receive water mixed with sewage. Councillors have raised this issue in council meetings, but to no avail.
When contacted by TNIE, Corporation Mayor G Ramakrishnan said he was taking steps to ensure that no such incident occurs in the future. "The water is filtered at different stages before supply. However, the snake may have entered the pipeline when wastewater was being released through valves," he said. The corporation commissioner told TNIE that he had taken note of the issue.