Open drain makes life miserable for residents in Puducherry

The drain, which starts from the intersection of Villupuram Road and Sivagami Nagar and extends all the way up to Mariyal Nagar in Puducherry, is filled with sewage and plastic waste.

The stench emanating from a storm water drain that carries waste water in Reddiyarpalayam is making life miserable for those living in Sivagami Nagar, Morisson Thottam and areas on the side of Villupuram Road.

The drain, which starts from the intersection of Villupuram Road and Sivagami Nagar and extends all the way up to Mariyal Nagar is filled with sewage and plastic waste. The compound wall of several houses in Sivagami Nagar is separated from the drain by just a boundary wall.

The stink emanating from the drain has made life difficult for the residents for years. The stagnant water in the drain choked with solid waste makes the area smell of sewage. What is making matters worse is that houses located along the drain are also directly releasing sewage into the drain, a section of residents rued.

A.G. Sundaram, a retired Headmaster of a government school who had shifted to a flat in Mariyal Nagar with his family six months ago, had no inkling about the predicament that awaited him. “The area is well developed, and we were looking forward to moving in. But this drain that is located adjacent to our apartment has become our bane, causing health problems.”

Most of the houses that are located alongside the drain have their windows closed and covered with wired mesh.

“We cannot open the windows in the morning as the wind carried the foul smell to the households in the area. The open drain has also become a mass breeding ground for moquitoes and little has been done to overcome the problem. We have informed about the smell and mosquito menace to officials of Oulgaret Municipality, but to no avail,” said M. Ravichandran, another resident.

A section of residents said that the municipal staff after removing the silt from the drain dumped it on the roadside. The silt has now become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the menace gets out of hand in the evenings. The drain has become a major health hazard, they said.