Survey soon to identify houses not connected properly to underground sewer network in Puducherry

Survey to identify houses not connected to proper sewer lines in Puducherry after three deaths due to toxic gas.

In the wake of three deaths in Pudhu Nagar in Reddiyarpalayam due to inhalation of toxic gas emanating from bathrooms of the victims’ residences earlier this month, the Public Works department has decided to carry out a survey in the town and the suburbs to identify dwelling units that are connected to the underground sewer lines without adhering to standard design rules.

The survey will also determine houses that are not linked to the network carrying waste water to Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in Puducherry. The public health wing of the PWD, entrusted with sewage management, has started working on a plan to deploy manpower to make door-to-door visits and identify houses that have connected their sewage lines to the underground network flouting design rules. The team will also find out the areas where households are not connected to the sewer network, said a PWD official.

The flaws in the construction of toilets, the official said, resulted in reverse flow of toxic gas to the bathrooms that led to the three deaths in Pudhu Nagar. A standard toilet will have a ‘S’ or ‘P’ shaped trap mounted to the toilet that acts as a water seal to absorb possible build up of toxic gas in the sewer system. The bathrooms where the two women and a girl child fainted in Pudhu Nagar did not have the protective chamber to absorb the gas, the official said.

“Now, we have corrected the design flaws in several houses in Pudhu Nagar as per standards. Our task is to identify houses that are not properly connected to the sewer lines. We will be launching the survey next month to identify households having their toilets unscientifically connected to our underground sewer network,” he said.

Another major issue in the management of sewage was the reluctance on the part of residents to connect to the underground sewer system. Around 35,000 households only have taken approval and connected to the underground sewer network properly. In several areas, the sewage was let out into the roadside drains, said another official.

“People are advised to employ licensed plumbers for connecting sewage pipes to the underground network. We have laid the underground sewer lines in seven Assembly segments within the town limits, but in several places the residents have not yet connected their sewage pipes to the network. It is not economically viable for the government to bear the cost of connecting the sewage carrying pipes of all houses to the underground network,” he said.

In order to address the issue of overflowing manholes, the government has decided to buy high-tech equipment. A recent meeting, chaired by Minister for Public Works K. Lakshminarayanan, has decided to buy six high impact machines to clean manholes. The machines to be purchased at a cost of ₹6 crore could go deep into the sewer system to draw out silt deposits.