Residents raise concerns over overflowing drains

Coimbatore: Sewage water has been overflowing in several parts of the city in the absence of a proper sewerage system. According to residents, the sewage water either remains stagnant in front of their houses and turns into breeding ground of mosquitoes, or enters their houses, causing health issues.
“Our layout was formed with a few houses in 1993. Now, the number of houses has almost touched 200. But the city corporation hasn’t taken any step to improve the sewerage system in the locality. As a result, sewage water is often overflowing,” said P Velusamy, a resident of Kamarajar Nagar near Avarampalayam.
The residents on Wednesday petitioned the city corporation commissioner, Sravan Kumar Jatavath, to find a permanent solution to the issue.
Pointing out that the civic body had laid pipelines and manholes for the underground drainage system about a year ago, A K Devaraj, another resident, said, “The corporation is yet to provide household connections. The worst part is that roads are now laid over the manholes. We don’t even know where the manholes are, and the corporation would have to cut the roads again.”
The situation in Ganapathy Maa Nagar is even worse, as there is not even a stormwater drain. “Except a few houses with septic tanks, all other houses discharge sewage water onto road. There are more than 1,000 houses in the locality,” said R Pugazhenthi, president, Ganapathy Maa Nagar joint action committee. “It is not just the odour that bothers us. The residents fall sick often with diarrhoea or fever.”
When contacted, the city corporation commissioner said, “Steps have been taken to construct sewerage lines in areas not included under the underground drainage scheme. Household connections would be given at the earliest to the remaining areas. As of now, household connections have been given to 3,000 of the 40,000 houses. As a temporary solution, affected areas would be cleaned regularly.”