The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Ullagaram temple tank chosen for pumping station

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 08, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Ullagaram temple tank chosen for pumping station

K. Manikandan

Residents protest council move, call it retrograde

A TANK OF TROUBLE: The Draupadi Amman Temple Tank in Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam municipality, which has been selected as a site for sewerage pumping station. — Photo: K. Manikandan

TAMBARAM : Residents of Ullagaram - Puzhuthivakkam Municipality, a southern suburb, are upset over a temple tank being selected as a site for a pumping station of the municipality for its proposed underground sewage project.

The Municipal council gave its consent for selecting the Draupadi Amman Temple tank as the site during a meeting of a council last week. According to officials of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Chennai Metrowater was preparing a detailed project report for the scheme, which was in the final stages.

A couple of months ago, Metrowater officials even made a clear presentation about the project to the local body's officials and elected representatives. As part of the project, it was proposed to lay 80 kilometres of sewers, apart from constructing three pumping stations. And last week, the municipal council gave its consent for constructing pumping stations at the temple tank, Chitheri and the burial ground in Puzhuthivakkam.

As the information about the council's consent for the scheme spread, residents of Ullagaram, particularly those living in the vicinity of the temple tank, became agitated. K. Rani, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam councillor of Ward No. 3, protested the decision saying that the temple tank was a water body that helped in harvesting rainwater. People performed the final rites for their relatives near the tank, before taking a dip in it.

Officials however said the tank was nothing more than a collection point for sewage. Taking strong objection to this, residents said only rainwater drained into the tank and also pointed out that some months ago, the local body had spent a few lakh to carry out improvement works in the tank.

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