After tragedy strikes at Pudhu Nagar, a host of grievances come to the fore

After tragedy strikes at Pudhu Nagar, a host of grievances come to the fore

PUDUCHERRY

It has now come to light that residents of Pudhu Nagar, from where three deaths occurred due to the inhalation of toxic gas emanating from their bathrooms of their residences, and adjoining areas in Puducherry, have been complaining about sewage leaks and of foul smell from the Sewage Treatment Plant near Kanakan Lake for a long time without getting any redressal to their grievances.

Three days ago, Senthamarai, 72; her daughter, Kamatchi, 55; and their neighbour Selvarani, 16; fainted in the bathroom after they inhaled toxic gas. All three residing in adjacent houses of fourth street in Pudhu Nagar died and they were cremated on Wednesday after post-mortem.

Though the death could have been the result of faults in the construction of their toilets, residents in the area complain that they have been living in unhygienic condition resulting from frequent sewage leaks and foul odour emanating from the STP.

“Even the deaths could have been avoided if people are aware of the risk involved in construction of toilets without proper water seals. People usually engage plumbers approved by the PWD for such works and residents should have been sufficiently warned of the risks involved in construction of substandard bathrooms. It is also illegal to connect bathroom fittings to the manhole directly,” said Ravichandran, a resident of Pudhu Nagar.

According to Sidharth, a resident of St. Theresa Nagar, people residing in the vicinity of Pudhu Nagar first thought the women and child fainted because of inhaling some toxic gas emanating from STP.

“We have been complaining to the Municipality and PWD officials about the bad smell coming from the plant. So, we all thought the three fainted because of malfunctioning of STP. The plant was not working three days before the tragedy struck the area. We suspect that even waste from the nearby government medical college was let out to the Kanakan Lake. Even the sewerage network in our area is not properly maintained,” he said.