For residents of the crowded Nelpettai market area, the threat from two channels is double. Panaiyur and Anuppanadi channels flow through these cramped lanes, posing a health risk.
M. Sainamma, a resident of Seeni Rowther Thoppu, says that mosquito infestation has reached worrying levels. As dengue threat prevails over the city, she is worried about herself and family. When it rains, water enters her small house and muck on the road settles in her living room. Like Sainamma, most residents live in cramped houses.
Almost all their needs are met by the market at their doorstep but the population explosion in the area that took place between 1980 and 2010 is proving to be a problem.
Nelpettai’s iconic meat market is home to several shops that sell different parts of animals. It is part of ward 50 (Swami Sannidhi) in Zone 3 of the Madurai Corporation. One can find heads, intestines, legs and, on some occasions, the whole animal. There is a slaughterhouse which predominantly sells goat and cow meat. The area has a vibrant fish market too.
Vendors attract customers by hanging fresh meat in Quaid-e-Millath Nagar Main Street. The area is usually packed on Sundays and caters to a approximately 600 shoppers. Vendors from villages near Madurai also sell their wares here. The shops in the area often throw discarded animal waste into large bins outside their shops. Some resort to heaping up the waste at road ends as there is no bin in the vicinity.
Residents have repeatedly complained to the Corporation about the ineffective cleaning by conservancy workers. They say that the workers never visit small lanes.
Hence, most residents automatically resort to dumping waste in the channels.
Both Panaiyur and Anuppanadi channels run for about a kilometre from Yanaikkal through Karimsah Pallivasal Street and Sungam Pallivasal Street. They are separated by a road and are about 70 metres apart.
M. Mohammed Najimudeen, executive committee member of Sungam Mosque, says that most of the houses are not connected to the underground drainage system.
Corporation officials say that much of the sewage in the area has existed for years. They assure that action will be taken and the drains will be cleared. However, they face logistical problems as houses are cramped and there is no space for heavy machinery to enter the lanes.
Residents say that Dengue Breeding Checkers visit the area every 15 days. However, fogging is not done regularly. There is one corporation school and one balwadi in the area.
There is also a community hall built by the government that is currently not in use.
Nelpettai residents continue to wonder whether there will ever be a day when they will enjoy an evening in the city without the low hum of mosquitoes and stench of garbage.