Madhumitha Viswanath By Express News Service CHENNAI: Residents of Kagithapuram and adjoining areas in S Kolathur have been complaining of nausea, headache and fever for the past two days as large amounts of raw sewage is being dumped into Keelkatalai lake's surplus channel which is present near their homes. They alleged that untreated sewage from Pallavaram pumping station which is supposed to go to the treatment plant at Perungudi is being dumped into nearby lakes. Keelkalatai lake and Narayanapuram Eri are mainly affected because of this and finally the sewage drains into Pallikaranai marshland too, residents explained. "Whenever there is a leak or a major repair in the main pipe, municipality officials divert all of the sewage into the Keelkatalai lake surplus channel. This happens mainly because there is no back up plan in place. This has been happening ever since the pumping station was built in 2006," said Sankar S, a resident of Kagithapuram in S Kolathur. Before the pumping station was built along the 200 ft Radial Road, a group of residents had filed a case in the Madras High Court asking for it to be built elsewhere, away from the lakes. They feared that untreated waste would pollute the nearby water bodies. The project was later stalled for five years and was given permission later after an expert team from IIT Madras surveyed the project. Sankar said that since Sunday the surplus channel was filled with raw sewage and that floating fecal matter could be seen on the surface. And many residents from areas like 11th Street, Kagithapuram, Bhagyalakshmi Nagar, LIC Nagar, Engineers Avenue in S Kolathur and parts of Keelkatalai including Kasivisalatchi Puram, Senthil Nagar and Bhoopathi Nagar through which the canal passes, have fallen ill. "My son is recovering fromTyphoid. But he fell sick again two days ago because of our unclean surroundings. My neighbors complained of headaches and nausea too. The stench will be unbearable. Breeding of mosquitoes have also gone up a lot," said Arulanandaraj, a resident of 11th street in S Kolathur. Other than developing health ailments, residents fear groundwater contamination too. Moreover, raw sewage from houses are also being illegally let into storm water drains that finally empty into Keelkatalai lake and then the marshland. "Storm water drains along Medavakkam high road till Keelkatalai signal and Ambal Nagar are filled till the brim with sewage," said another resident Ramesh Kumar. A sanitary inspector from the municipality said they weren't aware of the issue and will inspect the areas by Friday. Another official from the municipality denied the above allegations of residents and said this was a ploy to defame the government."We have a system well through which sewage will be sent to the STP incase of a leak in the pipe. Not one drop of sewage is let into any water body. These residents are angry that a pumping station is near their houses. These are baseless allegations," he said. Despite repeated attempts by Express to contact Pallavaram Municipal Commissioner and the Chief Engineer, they did not respond.

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