Work on sewer network damaging power cables, water lines: ECR residents

Residents along ECR complain of utility line damage due to infrastructure projects, calling for expedited work and better coordination.

Residents of various areas along the East Coast Road (ECR) have raised complaints over recurring damage to utility lines owing to digging for infrastructure projects, including a sewer network.

Residents of Palavakkam said the work on laying an underground sewer network was progressing slowly, and the unmindful digging for laying pipelines had damaged utility lines such as electricity cables. In VGP Golden Seaview Layout, there is a power blackout for nearly four to five hours when the lines snap.

The criss-cross digging of roads has rendered them non-motorable. The residents want the work to be expedited as a portion of the layout is vulnerable to flooding. Neelankarai and Kottivakkam residents said digging for sewer projects had damaged the water lines in their localities.

Welcoming the efforts to provide a comprehensive water and sewer network in the localities along the ECR, Kazura Garden Residents’ Welfare Association president Srilakshmi Mohan Rao, however, said the damage to utility lines was a recurring issue at Kapaleeswarar Nagar, Kazura Garden and Sunrise Avenue, among other places.

There was also delay in providing water meters for new connections, he said.

Residents called for better coordination between government agencies to complete the pending work on time, and relay the roads.

Work on a ₹418.20-crore project to provide 12,776 sewer connections has been under way in Kottivakkam, Neelankarai and Palavakkam, falling under the Sholinganallur zone. Besides 17 sewage pumping stations, the sewer infrastructure will include 164-km-long pipelines.