Walking into S. Davamani’s house in Bethaniapuram feels like entering an ashen mystic land. All household items — clothes, shoes, beds, walls, photos and items placed in storage — are coated with aluminium dust that comes from sacks kept alongside their home. Even their food and drinking water have a distinct grey layer. Other residents are also facing the health hazard.
“Large trucks from across Tamil Nadu and Kerala often come here and leave these huge bags of aluminium powder. The sacks are widely used to make pots and pans. A resident has given the land along the Vaigai for rent. It is making my family’s life miserable,” cries S. Davamani. She has been a resident of the area for many years. Their house in Ward 21 is now a liability, she says.
Davamani’s two sons, Marimuthu Pandiammal and Muthupandi, urge their mother to stop crying. They say, “The family has lost peace. The dust has caused breathing problems. Our wives’ health has significantly deteriorated too.”
Their visits to the local Primary Health Centre in Fathima Nagar have proved to be futile as the PHC focuses only on first aid and child birth. They have been repeatedly directed to the Government Rajaji Hospital but covering a six-km distance on a regular basis is taxing for Satyabama, the daughter-in-law of the house, who is pregnant.
“ More doctors should be deputed to the PHC or a government hospital should be opened in this part of the city,” says R. Chandran, a functionary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). Lack of hygiene is not the only problem in this ward, he says.
There are no government high or higher secondary schools. The only government primary school accommodates about 250 to 300 students. They later go to Arapalayam for secondary education, he says. The school and PHC are located opposite each other and are divided by an overflowing underground drainage. “It has been over a week and no one has come to clean it. How will the children go to school without difficulty,” asks A. Priya, a resident.
Other residents complain about the poor quality of roads. G. John, an auto rickshaw driver, says that he finds it very difficult to veer through the streets.
“The roads have been dug and left incomplete. Some areas have newly-laid tar roads and paver blocks. However, the paver blocks come off and the roads barely remain motorable for six months,” , he says. Anna Main Road and Pallavan Nagar have mounds of sand and debris.
One such intersection on Anna Main Road has a gaping 1.5-foot hole which has remained unfixed for a month and a half. Even after repeated complaints to officials of the Corporation, nothing has been done, says S. Iyannar, whose tea shop is situated 20 metres away from the hole.
He says, “They just tossed some mud inside the hole on Tuesday morning. The hole will reappear with the lightest rain.”
The area is plagued with mosquito menace, owing to overflowing stormwater drains that are now used for dumping garbage. There is lack of awareness among the residents who throw their household waste into drains meant for rainwater.
R. Arivazhagan says that residents let the drinking water flow out of taps for sometime as it is usually mixed with sewage and smells bad.
Of the three public toilets in the ward, only one functions. The employees who manage the toilets say there is shortage of water, which has forced the closure of other two toilets. Minister for Cooperation ‘Sellur’ K. Raju inaugurated a project on July 10 to replace old water pipelines. When contacted, Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar said that special attention was being paid to Ward 21.
“Bethaniapuram is a priority. We are repairing old pipelines to provide water for 24 streets. We have also dug three borewells to increase water supply. At the moment, the Corporation will not introduce any new schools, but if there is a dire necessity, we will take action,” he said.
He also said that re-laying of several tar roads had been sanctioned. “The aluminium dust matter will be looked into,” he concluded.