The Pallavaram Assembly Constituency is famous for many things, for people who have a strong sense of smell, a talcum powder factory and leather manufacturing units are olfactory markers. Though that exhilarating scent persists at that location on the GST Road, residents in many places have no other go but to take in the foul stench of badly laid underground sewage lines that break and pop due to age and quality issues.
“The lines were laid between 2006 and 2011 at a cost of ₹71 crore. You can see raw sewage bubbling up on our streets as good quality pipelines were not used at that time. Now there is another proposal to renew the lines at a cost of ₹890 crore. Hopefully, these will function properly,” said Murugaiyan, Federation of Civic and Welfare Associations of Pallavaram.
Despite having at least nine large water bodies, the constituency does not get clean groundwater and is dependent on tankers for water supply during the summer.
“The lakes such as Moovarasampet Eri, Nanmangalam eri, Hastinapuram eri, Nemilicheri eri, Sembakkam Eri, Putheri Eri, and Pallavaram Periya Eri have shrunk and the channels that used to bring rain waters during the monsoon have all vanished. If the government removes encroachments and brings excess water from Chembarambakkam to these lakes, our drinking water woes can be done away with,” said V. Santhanam, senior activist from Chromepet, who has conducted many protests to get facilities for residents.
