There is no formal underground drainage system in areas along the stretch of Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), from the site of the erstwhile Navallur Toll Gate to the Siruseri Sipcot. Instead, an eight-inch rainwater-carrying pipeline on Vembuliamman Koil Street, which runs parallel to this stretch, is being misused for discharge of sewage through unauthorised connections. The effects of this wilful misapplication can be seen on the service lane of OMR. In the absence of an underground drainage system, individual houses, gated communities, commercial establishments such as PG hostels should maintain septic tanks and have sewage lifted through private sewage-clearing lorry services.
Apartments in the area maintain Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and use sewage lorries to clear their septic tanks, but PGs are derelict in their respobsibility by bypassing these processes.
Many PG hostels and individual houses have connected their sewage outlets to this pipeline. By design, these pipes discharge into OMR’s service ducts, and when the latter overflows unable to take the inflow, the sewage enters the parallel stormwater drains on OMR.
On the eastern side of OMR, sewage movement is swift (as the natural flow is towards the east) eventually draining into the Buckingham Canal.
Remember, what drains into the waterway is untreated sewage.
On the western side, however, the ducts overflow due to limited capacity, leading to frequent flooding. Overflow from ducts causes daily flooding of sewage on Thiruvalluvar Street (which connects to OMR) between 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., the period when the taps are much in use and the flushing of toilets intense at PG hostels.
Other roads connecting to OMR are also impacted by this problem.
The streets affected by this practice include Vembuliamman Koil Street, Thiruvalluvar Street and Egattur Natham Link Road.
Residents of around 10 gated communities together accounting for 1000 to 1500 units have to take Egattur Natham Link Road to enter OMR. Despite having their own sewage treatment systems, all these communities are unnecesaarily hit by the problem of sewage overflows. And this is also not good news for the Buckingham Canal: quaffing untreated sewage would make it more polluted. Civic intervention that should be undertaken immediately include enforcing use of septic tanks by PG hostels and individual houses, preventing further misuse of rainwater drains and service ducts, and creating a standard underground drainage system for the stretch.
(U. Muthukumar is a former association secretary and currently resident of TVH Taus, a 400-unit gated community in Navalur)
Published – September 08, 2025 10:46 am IST
