Avadi residents are still waiting for piped connections and sewage lines.
What’s it about? In 2008, Avadi was made a municipality, and with it would come underground sewage lines and piped water. Over a decade later, those promises remain unkept. With changes in leadership due to assembly elections, the wait could be longer.
- Only a few areas in Kamarajar Nagar, JB Estate, and Mittanamille have houses connected to underground sewage lines. Others continue to depend on tankers to clean septic tanks. Some fear sewage will flow back into their homes.
- The underground sewage project was proposed in 2008 to cover 30,000 houses in the first phase. The pipes were finished being laid only in 2016. Avadi Corporation commissioner told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the wait for underground drainage would be at least another five years.
Who said what? Officials said 35,000 sewage and 30,000 drinking water connections are currently working. Jayakumar, a resident of Pattabiram, said he wasn’t sure when he’ll get water since the pipe from the underground line was given only a few days ago. Former AIADMK minister from Avadi, K Pandiarajan, said contractors couldn’t do the work since it would show how the previous work of laying pipes wasn’t properly done.
(Image credits: Hari Prabhakaran’s Twitter post)