Residents of Katchaikatti panchayat demand proper sewage disposal system

More than 300 people residing in Kalliyamman Kovil Street at Katchaikatti panchayat in Madurai district manually remove sewage from the collection points constructed outside their houses to avoid overflowing in the absence of a sewage disposal channel.

More than 300 people residing in Kalliyamman Kovil Street at Katchaikatti panchayat in Madurai district manually remove sewage from the collection points constructed outside their houses to avoid overflowing in the absence of a drainage channel.

Karuppayi, a resident of the street, said for more than 10 years only their locality lacked a proper sewage disposal system.

“Wastewater released from the bathroom and kitchen gets collected in a pit-like collection point outside every house. In the absence of a drainage channel, the sewage gets stagnated there for days together,” she added.

If the water was not removed, it would eventually overflow into the street and houses, she said, adding that the situation was the same for almost all the 300 houses.

Demanding construction of a channel to conduct the sewage from the collection pits, the residents had staged protests several times, but a response from the authorities was still awaited, she said.

Unable to bear the foul smell coming from the sewage collected in the pits, they often collected the sewage bare-handed and poured it on a barren land close by, she said.

Gnanasekaran, another resident, said the need for a sewage channel was stressed in the form of resolutions passed at several gram sabha meetings, but no action was taken on their demand.