Incomplete and poorly-barricaded sewerage collection wells at Harichandra Avenue – Third Cross Street.
| Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
This structure has the look of a head with spiked hair, but lacks its innocuousness. This one can kill, at night or day; all it takes is a misstep for the unsuspecting beachgoer to get impaled on rusty rods that reach for the skies.
These construction rods are being worn uneasily like a crown of thorns by a half-complete sewerage collection well, on Harichandra Avenue — Third Cross Street in Injambakkam. The beach is just a whiff away.
Here is a picture of the space, one captured as recently as August 13, 2024.
Two giant CMWSSB boards are stationed. One is standing dutifully at its post. Its effort however goes in vain, as the other is lying face-down, and leaking people in. Local jugaad takes care of the rest of the access, past the structure and towards the beach.
A ladder rustled up with casuarina poles by nobody-knows-who provides free access to everyone, along the side of the structure.
The frugal ladder and fallen barricade and the regular movement of unauthorised feet make a commentary about the speed of this CMWSSB project.
This project is more than six months old, and moving at a tardy pace, says Capt. A. Ranganathan, president of the newly-formed Injambakkam Coastal Conservation Society. The project even bears the signs of something that progresses in fits and starts. People who need to notice the fallen barricade and the ladder seem to have not noticed it — and that makes a statement about the consistency of the work.
Capt. Ranganathan voices his concern for public safety: an inebriated beachgoer — not unusual around beaches off ECR — can walk right into those rusty rods. Under darkness, even the sober can meet with a similar fate.
This street is part of the coastal conservation society president’s regular one-hour morning walk, as are two other streets, Bharathi Avenue and Rajiv Avenue, that also showcase neglect and lack of planning — both of them sport an incomplete CMWSSB sewerage collection well too.
As The Hindu joins Capt. Ranganathan on this “morning civic walk”, he notes the an incomplete CMWSSB sewerage well is a feature of quite a few streets from Injambakkam to Akkarai off East Coast Road.
He remarks that the three afore-mentioned streets, as also a few others, are low-lying, and hence, sewerage would be drawn through a pipeline to these collection wells close to the beach, and then through another pipeline taken to ECR.
He sighs at what this would entail for residents — a protracted project. And going by those incomplete sewerage wells, considerable ground still needs to be covered. The photos were taken on August 13, 2024.
Incomplete CWMSSB sewerage well at Bharathi Avenue in Injambakkam, on August 13, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK
Injambakkam group’s plea to CMWSSB
Injambakkam Coastal Conservation Society has written to the Managing Director, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply And Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) drawing attention to the “incomplete sewerage main project in lanes from East Coast Road to the beachfront in Injambakkam and Akkarai”.
The letter notes that “the project, which commenced over six to seven months ago, remains incomplete, leaving our communities in a state of disarray.”
It underlines that “a sewerage collection well dug at the end of each of the lanes has been left open, posing a serious threat to public safety. This well is precariously close to the narrow path leading to the beach, with exposed steel rods jutting out, creating a risk of injury, particularly to children and elderly residents. You will also notice that ground water level has risen in these areas and mosquito menace in our areas is bad.”
The letter continues: “Despite the significant impact this project will have on our community, the residents of Injambakkam were not consulted or informed about the plans to lay this sewerage line.”
It points out that with the monsoon season approaching, “the incomplete work on the collection wells and open road cuts will likely result in severe flooding.”
And it also expresses concern over “the proximity of the sewerage lines to the ocean front.” and “long-term damage to the groundwater quality and the marine life along the coastal environment.”
The letter concludes with a request that members of Injambakkam Coastal Conservation Society get to have a meeting with the CMWSSB managing director.
