Malfunction of open drainages on car streets in Srirangam causes concern

Residents allege lack of proper maintenance of the open drainages

Stagnation of domestic sewage on Chithirai Streets and Uthirai Streets in Srirangam has raised concern among residents.

More than 1,000 families live in the streets. While “Chithirai Ther” of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple runs on four Chithirai Streets, the “Thai Ther” is pulled along the four Uthirai Streets.

Although the underground drainage scheme was implemented in some parts of Srirangam about 20 years ago, the car streets were exempted. It was reasoned that the manholes and underground sewage mains might not withstand the weight of the temple cars. In the absence of the sewer lines, the residents were left with the old system of letting domestic waste in open drainages.

Local residents allege that there is no proper maintenance of open drainages in and around Chithirai Streets, Uthirai Streets and four Adayavalanjan Streets. The drainages have not been desilted for several months, leading to overflow of sewage on to the streets at various points, they complain.

Residents allege that the indiscriminate dumping of solid waste and debris from the compound walls of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple has compounded the problem as this has choked the flow of sewage water at many locations. The drainage along Six-Feet Lane has also been impeded due to dumping of garbage and debris.

“Sewage overflows on to the streets frequently, causing much inconvenience to residents,” says S. Ranganathan, a resident of East Chithirai Street.

The problem was sorted out to some extent after V. Jawahar, Councillor of Ward 2 , took up the issue. However, Mr. Jawahar concedes that the open drains in Srirangam needs to be maintained properly and have to be desilted periodically.