Open stormwater drain flowing with grey water on a street in Zamin Pallavaram.
At Bharathi Nagar and Latheef Colony in Zamin Pallavaram, stormwater drains are worked to exhaustion with not a day off the whole year. The job of carrying grey water is thrust upon them.
Stormwater drains masquerading as grey water carriers is hardly unique to these areas. Only that in most other places SWDs do this thankless “service” away from the public gaze, having been covered.
In these parts, the SWDs are uncovered, and their additional burden is for every eye to see.
Bharathi Nagar First Street in Zamin Pallavaram.
Druva Rajaratnam, a resident of Bharathi Nagar Third Street in Zamin Pallavaram, points out that the Tambaram Municipal Corporation offers underground drainage services, having put the necessary infrastructure in place. But it is not enough if you tap into that service first paying up for the sewage connection, your neighbours should too.
Durva explains: “There are considerably more houses in these parts than houses that have gone in for UGD connections. These households have septic tanks and have sewage lifted by sewage tanker operators from time to time. But they let the grey water from the kitchen and wash areas into the stormwater drains to ensure the septic tank does not get filled up fast.”
The stormwater drains in the neighbourhoods in question are not deep and wide enough, and during forceful showers, the waters can spill on to the road.
On certain sections, one finds a parody of a stormwater drain, it hardly possessing the girth one associates with such a conduit. As a whole, the stormwater drain network needs to be overhauled, but until the time better infrastructure arrives, what exists has to managed with systems that promotes salubrity.
An open drain in Zamin Pallavaram
Durva notes that the mucky environment in the drains attracts vermin in the best of times and the problem only gets compounded during the monsoons.
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She adds: “Some households cover the section of the drain in front of their house; most do not. In places where the drains are wider and deeper, there is the risk of little children falling into them. Wheels can also get stuck.”
Garbage collection
Among the changes Durva would want to see in her home turf is a better garbage clearance mechanism.
She explains: “Garbage collection seems to function on an ad hoc basis, lacking preset timings. Conservancy workers turning up at random hours increases the chances of residents missing them. They make known their arrival with a whistle, which can be missed. They cannot be blamed. The demands of their work are high, and they are stretched to the limits. Going bin-less makes sense when the garbage collection system is thoroughgoing. In the absence of such a system, residents should be provided with bins at the end of every street.”
A garbage collection truck of the Tambaram Municipal Corporation at a gated community in Zamin Pallavaram.
Within GCC limits where battery-opertaed vehicles head to households, announcing their arrival with a loud anthem penned and scored specifically for garbage collection, its lyrics punctuated with the theme. In contrast, garbage collection withuin Tambaram Municipal Corporation is driven by trucks, each covering a substantial surface area.
Published – August 16, 2025 10:03 pm IST
