High level of chlorine in water worries residents

The people here are almost completely dependent on the water utility after the groundwater that they have been drawing has gone dry in the past few months.

“The smell of chlorine is too strong to bear. Even after we boil the water, the odour remains the same. It makes it impossible to drink the water without health concerns. Because of this, the quantity of water that we consume daily has come down considerably. We have informed the person the who supplies the water, but nothing has changed yet,” said Karunya G, a resident of Nethaji Nagar.

Locals alleged that they were facing lots of health issues like fever and diarrhoea after consuming Metro Water. When they boil the water, its colour changes and it gets thick.

“It has been more than a month, but the condition of water remains the same. There are so many residents who have fallen sick after consuming this water. So we are using this water only for domestic uses. For drinking water, we have to spend Rs 100 every day,” alleged Ramkumar K, another resident.

When asked, AV Ezhumalai, Area Engineer, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Board, told DT Next that they have been instructed to add 5 PPM chlorine in the water.

“We are not adding more than that. However, we will ask theworkers to check the quantity of chlorine added to the water that we supply,” he said.