In June, residents of Pykara petitioned Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan at his ‘meet the people camp’ about the abysmal condition of Madakulam to Muthupatti channel that runs through their area. The MP took up the issue with corporation officials who promised to look into it.
On August 4, a letter from Zone 5 Assistant Commissioner reached B. Pandya Muthukumaran, a resident of Pykara and a petitioner, stating that the encroachments have been removed and a JCB was used to clean the channel. Hence, the petition has been closed, the letter said.
When The Hindu visited the site, what was once an irrigation canal presented a stagnant cesspool filled with plastic waste and a putrid smell pervaded the air.
When contacted, a PWD official, who made no mention of the cleaning work, said that recently a joint inspection with corporation officials was held and it was made clear that encroachments have to be removed if the channels and tanks are to be desilted before the monsoon begins. “Hopefully, the corporation is preparing an estimate for this,” he added.
P. Karuppasamy of AIADMK and ward 72 councillor, who also had no clue regarding the removal of encroachments, said that when he took up the issue with the corporation, he was told that tender was being prepared for the cleaning work.
When the work is in the estimate and tender stage, Mr. Muthukumaran wonders how he got a letter that he work has been completed.
Till 15 years ago, when Madakulam tank filled up, the shutters would be opened and the overflow would pass through two routes, one through Pykara to reach Muthupatti tank and the other through Duraisamy Nagar to reach Kiruthumal Nadhi. But as farm lands disappeared and residential areas sprang up, the shutters were rarely opened and during monsoon the outflow led to flooding of residential areas.
To avoid this, during the earlier DMK period, the channel passing through Pykara was renovated with concrete lining.
But with increase in population, the UGD lines which were laid years ago failed to serve the purpose leading to leakage in many places. According to S. Marudhamuthu, “whenever we complain of seepage in the drainage line, corporation workers come with suction pumps and the sewage waste is pumped from the UGD line and let into the channel - defeating the very purpose of the channel.”
Residents also blithely dump plastic and other waste into the channel, thus clogging it. Jagadeeswaran of Thiruvalluvar Nagar fears the onset of monsoon. “Not just the smell but with dengue cases on the rise, it is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes,” he says.
Sometimes carcasses of dogs and cats are also thrown into the channel.
About 20 years ago, groundwater in this area was around 13 to 14 feet. Now with no water flowing into Thenkal and Muthupatti tanks, it has touched 200 feet, the residents say.
