The contamination of water supplied by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) has added to the woes of residents in Chennai city after cyclone Michaung caused heavy rainfall and flooding. The issue was raised by residents from zones such as Tondiarpet (Zone 4), Ambattur (Zone 7), and Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar (Zone 6). Most residents from Thiruvotriyur (Zone 1) and Manali (Zone 2) have been forced to use water from tanker lorries due to damaged pipelines and the issue of oil spilling.
TNM visited Korattur, where the issue of contamination has been raised by people residing in Tamil Nadu Housing Board Colony. Ranjini, a resident of 40th Street, pumped water from the metro water line to show us a bucketful of yellow-coloured water that gave off a strong odour as a testament. “This has been the case for more than a week. We rely on this water for our cleaning needs but because of contamination, we are forced to buy water cans and water from tanker lorries to tend to our needs,” Ranjini told TNM.
She said if they are lucky, the line which brings water to the neighbour’s house across the road might have cleaner water on some days. “We then request them and take water from their line,” she said, pointing towards the house of Samanjitha, a retired elderly woman who lives with her husband. Samanjitha ceded a request to pump water, to test the quality and found that the water in their line was equally coloured and smelly.
J John, councillor for Korattur’s Ward 84, told TNM, “The CMWSSB Managing Director visited our ward on Wednesday, December 13, and we brought the issue to his attention. It will hopefully be rectified by next week.”
Similar complaints have been raised by residents of Muthamizh Nagar in Kodungaiyur. LM Jai Ganesh, a resident, said before the cyclone, the water in our pipes was mixed with rust and sand. “While the issue was tended to, within weeks, due to the cyclone and flooding, the water in our taps turned yellow. The local metro water engineer has said that they are prioritising the issue of water seeping out of manholes in the area and that this will eventually be rectified.” However, the complaint has not been addressed yet, he said.
Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar has been facing a similar situation since Saturday, December 9, but officials have taken note of the issue, residents said. Dhanam, a resident of Ramadoss Nagar, Old Washermenpet, said she had complained to metrowater officials.
“When the officials came the water seemed fine. It sometimes comes out yellow but we leave the taps open for a while before using it. Even after that it smells like bleaching powder sometimes,” Dhanam said. The officials have advised the residents to boil and filter the water before consuming it for the next 10 days. “This has created doubts in our minds about the safety of consuming it at all,” she said.
Vinay, Managing Director of CMWSSB, told TNM that majority of the complaints have been rectified. “We didn’t receive many complaints to start with. In core city areas, the issue was raised because the drinking water and drainage water pipes are located too close to each other in narrow lanes. In some other cases due to rains and flooding, the pipelines were damaged due to which water entered these pipes. However, 80% of the complaints we received have been attended to. The others would be resolved by December 17,” Vinay said.
Residents of Thiruvottiyur and Manali are being supplied with water from tanker lorries. R Jayaram, councillor of Ward 4 in Thiruvottiyur said several panel boards installed on streets to operate motors were damaged during the floods. The oil spill which affected residents of Zone 1 and Zone 2 was also one of the reasons for supplying water through tankers. However, on Wednesday, repair works were conducted and some pipelines have been opened but the work will take a few more days for completion.” Since the repair work is ongoing, water supply has been restricted to once in two days, he added.