Chennai: With more awareness among residents about the importance of saving rainwater, many of them have now turned their attention towards the rainwater harvesting (RWH) scheme.
Speaking to News Today, Sarvamangala Nagar Residents Welfare Association secretary M Ravi, who is helping people in repairing RWH pits, said,”The scheme was implemented a few years ago and has been forgotten by most people. We are now reminding them about it. In many places, we have helped locals fix and repair the already existing pits.”
He further said members of the association also do door-to-door campaign, stressing on the importance of harvesting and the need to save the precious resource.
SRP Residents Welfare Association president R Ramamoorthy said they are well-prepared to face the downpour.
“Even during the 2015 floods, we were not affected much. We are trying to keep our place as clean as possible, so that water does not stagnate anywhere. We do not have underground drainage system in Sembakkam, which is one of the biggest drawbacks,” he said.
However, Federation of Rajakilpakkam Residents Welfare Association secretary V Seetharaman said the Sembakkam Municipality is not ready.
“Several sewage lines are still clogged and not cleared. At many places, the removed waste is once again dumped near the sewage lines which end up clogging them. Garbage disposed in many places have not been removed and with the showers, there are high chances of the cleanliness of the place getting affected. Another major problem is the non-functioning street lights in many places,” he said.
“Sewage that is let into the lakes has not been stopped. To make things worse, many of the waterbodies, including the ones in Rajakilpakkam, Vengaivasal and Madambakkam, have not been desilted,” he added.
BATTERED ROADS:
Due to the ongoing underground drainage works, several roads including the Avvai Nagar Main Road in Indra Nagar were dugup and are yet to be re-laid. This is another major cause for concern for residents.