Citizen Connect: Sapthagiri Nagar residents oppose Metro water’s fourth borewell on their street

The residents of Sapthagiri Nagar Extension at Lakshmipuram in Kolathur are up in arms against Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) digging the fourth borewell to extract groundwater from their street to supply to the neighbouring localities.

The Metro water had built a 60,000-litre overhead water tank on the street corner of Sapthagiri Nagar Extension in 2005, encroaching on the road space. The water is pumped from the three borewells dug by the CMWSSB on the street. With a daily extraction of 60,000 litres of water, two of the three borewells have failed and only one has water. So, the Metro water has dug a new borewell on the street despite protest from the locals.

“In the last one year, at least five borewells installed by residents of our street have failed. They were forced to dig new ones or increase the depth of the existing ones. We believe that the borewell failures in our street are due to over-exploitation of groundwater by the three borewells of the CMWSSB. Our apprehension is that if the new 500-feet deep borewell is dug, all other borewells in the street will fail,” Gowri Shankar, a resident said.

He added that the overhead tank cum borewells were built at a time when there were not many houses around. “Over the last decade, the locality has developed into a residential area and not many empty plots exist here. Moreover, our street did not have a single tap from the overhead tank and all of us are dependent on groundwater. So, the metro water’s decision to continue the extraction of groundwater from our street and to supply it to neighbouring areas is unacceptable,” he said.

Another resident said that even though the Metro water has been extracting the borewell water, it had not constructed any rainwater harvesting structures to recharge the groundwater. “Despite our objection, the Metro water dug the fourth borewell on the street. We want it to immediately construct RWH structures on our street before the onset of northeast monsoon,” said the resident. The resident also urged the Metro water to complete the piped drinking water supply scheme which has been pending for several years.

A Metro water official of Madhavaram area III said that the locals have no public cause in objecting the new borewell. “The borewell was dug to supply water to the neighbouring areas. It is being done only for a public cause,” the official said. When asked about the absence of RWH structures, the official said that they would certainly take steps to construct RWH structures on the street.