The Hindu 21.11.2013
Civic body plugs illegal sewer inlets
On Wednesday, Chennai Corporation commenced plugging of
illegal sewer connections of commercial buildings that were identified
in the city over the last few weeks.
Officials of the
Corporation’s revenue department, health department, and the junior
engineers of 200 wards have started locating the illegal sewer inlets
into stormwater drains. This follows the survey done by the
Corporation’s Public Health Department to assess the number of illegal
sewer connections in the city.
A number of the inlets
have been plugged in most of the 200 wards in the city. “We have
plugged five illegal inlets from commercial buildings in Ikkatuthangal.
We have spared residential buildings to avoid causing hardship to
residents,” said an official.
The drive is expected
to take many days to fulfil as a sewer network for clearing the sewage
of all the 16 lakh properties in the city is pending completion. Also,
the civic body has a list for only 11.5 lakh of the property tax
assesses, with most of the properties found to be violating building
norms.
The compilation of data on the total number of
illegal sewer inlets plugged will be done in a few days. The revenue
department will be asked to withdraw the trade licences of such
commercial buildings.
The civic body has also planned
to carry out another survey to identify all the illegal outfalls that
are yet to be traced by the Public Health Department. This survey will
be carried out by a private agency which will verify every building and
identify those that contribute to the pollution of waterways.
The civic body has already advised many property tax assessees to get a sewer connection from Chennai Metrowater.
Action follows survey to identify all commercial buildings with illegal sewer connections.