The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Alandur water protests continue

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Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Alandur water protests continue

By Our Staff Reporter

Residents of Hindu Colony, S.B. Colony and Bhaktavatsalam Nagar block MGR Road at Nanganallur on Sunday.

CHENNAI, SEPT. 13. Protests against the erratic supply of drinking water in Alandur Municipality continued for the second day today with supporters of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam staging a demonstration.

The DMK members and several hundred residents of Alandur, Adambakkam, Pazhavanthangal and nearby areas gathered near the circle office of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts, and raised slogans against what they termed "total failure of government agencies" to ensure supply at least once in two weeks.

Once in 20 days

While the board officials said drying up of wells in the Palar river in Pazhayaseevaram was the reason for the severe water shortage, the Alandur municipality councillors said the government agencies were not doing their best to mitigate the problem. Councillors and angry residents said that in some areas residents received water only once in about 20 days.

Women belonging to Bhaktavatsalam Nagar which is at the tail end of the supply network, said they received water only after 19 days. "Wells in our locality have completely dried up and we cannot afford to hire water tankers," the women protestors said.

R.S. Bharathi, Chairman, Alandur Municipality, said the board should ensure supply of 25 lakh litres of water every day to the local body. On several occasions, they did not receive the water following bursts in pipelines. If Metrowater could provide 15 lakh litres of water, the civic body could ensure equitable distribution to all areas.

The TWAD Board officials argued that it was not only the residents of Alandur alone who were facing a water shortage. Residents of other localities -- Anakaputhur, Pammal and Chitlapakkam town panchayats and Cantonment Board in Pallavaram, the Indian Air Force in Madambakkam also did not receive enough water.

Monsoon hope

They said that once the monsoon sets in and the infiltration wells get rejuvenated, supply to the local bodies would improve. The TWAD Board was spending Rs. 3 crores for sinking wells in Pullambakkam village on the Cheyyar River. The work would be completed in December and once it was through, there would be some relief, officials said and added that it was unlikely that water supply would be increased to local bodies in the near future, considering that their sources were drying up.

On Sunday, residents of the Hindu-Colony, S.B. Colony and Bhaktavatsalam Nagar blocked the MGR Road in Nanganallur to protest against inadequate water supply. Pointing out that there was no water supply for the past 18 days, the residents said they were put to hardship, as there was no alternate source of water. Groundwater in their area had completely depleted, the members said. On Monday, however, water was supplied, residents said.

They noted that they got Palar water only once in two weeks and with the non-supply of water for the past 18 days, they were driven to desperation. The residents gathered around 8 a.m. to block the road for about three hours, and dispersed only after police and Municipal authorities intervened.

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