The Times of India       13.12.2010

Residents to protest the construction of sewage pumping station near schools

CHENNAI: A year has passed since the Madras High Court directed the Porur town panchayat to stop dumping garbage in the vicinity of two girls' schools on School Street in Porur as it posed a health hazard to students. But now the village administration is in the process of setting up a sewage pumping station in the same spot.

Residents and parents together have already sent a registered letter to the Tiruvallur district collector to stop the construction of the pumping station and will be submitting a letter to the Porur town panchayat president on Monday. They fear the stench and germs from the sewage pumping station may affect the health of the children.

The government girls higher secondary school and the government middle school is situated on School Street in Poothepedu in Porur town panchayat. The distance between the two institutions is just fifty feet and in between there is an open ground which was earlier a graveyard.

"It is in this space where the sewage pumping station is coming up. Earlier, there was a garbage dumping ground here and when the rubbish used to be taken out using a JCP, the children studying in lower grades used to vomit. Imagine the plight if a sewage pumping station comes up," said K Subramaniam, a resident of Karpagambal Nagar in Porur.

The sewage pumping station is part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission ( JNNURM)'s project to provide underground sewerage scheme at Porur town panchayat. The work which began on September 16, 2009 is expected to be completed by September 15, 2012.

"A water treatment plant will not cause any problem, but a sewage treatment plant will emanate stench. No child can sit inside the class room and attend classes in peace. It will also affect their health for sure," said S Vishwanath, another parent.

Subramaniam said over 100 parents will be walking to the Porur town panchayat president S Arunachalam's office and submitting a petition on Monday. "We cannot risk our children's health," he said.

S Arunachalam, the Porur town panchayat president said that there was no other land available for constructing the pumping station. "Now we have good technology which will prevent the stench," he said. According to him, the graveyard which was there earlier, was removed after an electric crematorium was constructed. "If residents want good facilities, they must adjust," he said.