‘Ottiyambakkam rainwater canal carries sewage’

Residents from a section of Perumbakkam complain that Ottiyambakkam Odai, supposed to carry rainwater from Ottiyambakkam and other localities, has now become a conduit for sewage. They allege sewage from Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements at Tsunami Colony in Perumbakkam and a few gated-communities in Semmancheri, Thazhambur, and Perumbakkam, make their way to the rainwater canal. V. Dilleeswara Babu, a resident of Perumbakkam, says, “Though there is a sewage treatment plant at TNSCB tenement in Perumbakkam, it is not functional. As a result, the groundwater gets contaminated. At present, the residents of Old Perumbakkam, Arasankazhani, Nesamani Nagar, to a large extent depend on groundwater through borewells. Hence, sewage should be discharged in a responsible manner. It has been happening for the past four years. I have taken up the issue with the State government, WRD and TNSCB. The canal has become polluted.” The canal comes under the purview of Water Resources Department (WRD), a wing of the Public Works Department (PWD). It passes through Sholinganallur marshland, Muttukadu backwaters and enters Buckingham Canal.