Residents of Singanallur, Ram Nagar, Kattoor, Karumbbukkadai and Chetti Veethi have more than one reason to worry. A study funded and conducted by a Swiss agency recently in the city has found that these localities have the poorest water supply, sewerage and solid waste management system. But the bad news is yet to come. The situation will further worsen in the coming years, the agency - ICLEI, South Asia - has predicted.
The localities, as per the study, do not have adequate infrastructure or urban facilities and are at high risk in future as the climate change impacts increase.
Singanallur, one of the oldest localities and thickly populated with middle class population, lacks household sewerage and water supply connections.
BedoShruti Sadhukhan of ICLEI said, “These areas get water supply only once in 10 days. The situation worsens during summer. In future, the gaps will widen due to lack of water supply system in place and loss of water during distribution. Similarly, areas such as Kattoor and Karumbbukadai do not have exclusive water supply plans. They often get flooded during rain as well. The sewage system in the area is not connected to the Ukkadam treatment plant though the infrastructure is available. Chetti Veethi which is located in the central zone is one of the most densely populated areas. But it lacks an efficient solid waste management system as garbage bins over flow and the traffic congestion in the area has been a huge problem.”
“The current situation shows that there is demand for water in several areas. The system has water but due to the losses it is inadequate and these areas face problems every summer. Similarly, there is no connection to household for sewerage pipelines even though sewage treatment plants have been commissioned. In future, because of climate change the water demand will increase and supply gap will only become bigger. The stress that is already there will get exaggerated. These areas that are already fragile but will be more at risk in future if systems are not in place and steps are not taken,” Shruthi said.
The fragility factors were based on various reasons such as lack of infrastructure, gaps in services, demand and public perception. This does not mean that the entire city will not face these problems as the vulnerability is present across the city. “Just that, these areas are at higher risk,” said Shruthi.
S Mohan from IIT, Madras, said a lot of interventions will be required to reduce the impacts. “As the temperature in the city increases by 3.3 degree celsius in the future, urban areas will be the most vulnerable due to the vehicular pollution and real estate development. A holistic development plan and a climate action plan is the need of the hour,” he said.
Emani Kumar, executive director, ICLEI, South Asia, said the city municipal corporation and the local government will have to take adequate steps and come up with the infrastructure within the next few years as it would cost more in future when the problems become bigger. “We have submitted the action plan until 2023 to the city municipal corporation and projects worth Rs 6.5 crore will be taken up by ICLEI as pilot projects. Their success will be replicated across the city,” said Emani.
City corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan said that they had already inaugurated a few projects as suggested by the agency. “Bio-methanization plants and solid waste management techniques have been implemented. They have worked out a comprehensive report and various problem statements have been identified. We will tie up with various central government and state government projects and try to implement the projects,” he said.
