Tondiarpet residents panic after oil oozes out of abandoned pipes

CHENNAI: Oil floating on stagnated rain water at the under construction storm water drainage created panic among the residents of Tondiarpet in the wee hours on Wednesday.

At several locations in the city, the construction work of both phase II Chennai Metro Rail and Integrated Storm Water Drainage (ISWD) is underway. On Wednesday morning, according to residents of Tondiarpet, oil started floating on the water, causing suspicion if any pipes have been damaged during the Metro construction.

However, CMRL clarifying on the issue stated that due to heavy rainfall on June 21, water got accumulated and stagnated in the low lying area of TH road, which is an excavated area.

“The residual oil from the abandoned BPCL line started oozing out from the pipe joint by itself and got mixed with rain water. The leakage was not damaged by any of our CMRL works. Both Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) confirmed that the leakage is a residual from the abandoned pipe, ”confirmed CMRL.

Meanwhile a Tondiarpet police claim that the oil from the pipes has been leaking for several years. “We often notice children in the locality lighting the oozing residue with matchsticks. We have warned them of danger several times, ”added the police personnel.

On the other hand, sources claim that Metro trains from Washermanpet Metro station to Central Metro running delayed due to signaling issues on Wednesday.