Residents of Taramani lament supply of putrid drinking water in Chennai | Chennai News – Times of India

Chennai: Foul pungent smell in drinking water is the latest scourge of residents of Taramani’s Periyar Nagar and Bharathi Nagar areas which had just wriggled out of a two-month long water shortage issue. In several homes along Karunanidhi Street, MGR Street, and Yamuna Street, water has turned yellowish or black, emitting a pungent smell that residents fear is due to sewage contamination.“The water is unfit even for domestic use. Many families developed infections,” Lakshmi, a resident of Yamuna Street, said. Residents suspect a mix-up between sewage and drinking water pipelines, but officials deny it.With the main supply disrupted, many households have pooled resources to bring in tanker lorries, paying ₹700–₹800 per 6,000 litres to fill the 50-odd tanks spread across the locality. Even homes with borewell connections report that their groundwater has started to emanate a foul smell.“How long can we keep paying for tankers? Every week, it is a new problem. We need a long-term fix,” said V Shyamala of Karunanidhi Street.In Yamuna Street, foul-smelling water was seen pouring out of a Metrowater pipeline under repair. Metrowater workers are digging up stretches and cutting the pipelines to identify the faulty lines. For a few hours after this work, the issue is temporarily resolved, but it resumes again in a while, says Anbazhagan, a resident.“Supply has been disrupted at several locations, and flushing work is underway. While flushing, rust and other such material in the pipelines are cleared, which are the reason for the water turning yellow. However, the source of the smell is unclear,” said Arun Kumar, assistant engineer, Adyar zone. He said an inspection of the entire area has to be carried out post the flushing work, and it would take a week to completely resolve the issue.Metrowater managing director TG Vinay attributed the issue to a possible damage caused during the recent work on sewer lines. “House service connections may have been affected. Our engineers are working round-the-clock to resolve it,” he said.Nithin, a Metrowater contractor at the site, said, “the damaged pipeline is 8-9 feet below the surface. It is hard to trace the exact fault and assess the water flow. We are now digging right in front of the houses where the problem is reported and looking to individually solve the issue.”Ward 178 councillor S Bhaskaran, promising a permanent solution, said a tender would soon be floated to replace 30-year-old pipelines (sewage and metrowater) in the area.