In Thiruvottiyur, esplanade by the sea, not a drop of water to drink

Drinking water is as scarce in Thiruvottiyur as salty seawater is superfluous in the bay along the esplanade zone.
Metrowater has not yet laid water pipe lines in many parts of the northern zone, which includes localities like Wimco Nagar, Ernavoor, Ajax, Ennore, Kathivakkam, Kaladipet, Rajakadai and Thangal. In households that do have connections, taps are bone dry.
Residents say the authorities delayed work on laying of drinking water pipelines under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission after the municipality merged with the corporation in 2011. To make matters worse, lack of drainage lines results in overflowing sewage entering wells in the area, making groundwater unfit for consumption.
The municipality in 2010 started work on a comprehensive water supply scheme in which it planned to build a 176-km pipeline network, six overhead tanks and six underground tanks to provide the zone with uninterrupted drinking water supply. The planners set a deadline of 18 months for the project, which was to cover more than 70,000 households. But the work is yet to be completed. The government was to acquire a 1.5-acre site from Wimco (now a subsidiary of ITC Ltd), on which it planned to construct two underground tanks. But delays in acquiring land from the company put paid to this part of the project, which would have helped provide residents drinking water at their doorsteps.
Residents of localities in the zone say water shortage remains a dream. "Politicians make tall promises ahead of every election but they remain unfulfilled," said Lakshmi Rajaram, a civic activist in Thiruvottiyur.
She said sewage often mixes with drinking water, posing severe health problems.
The municipality in 2007 started a Rs 89-crore sewerage project in the zone but nothing has come of it as yet, leading to the problem.
Ex-Thiruvottiyur municipal chairman R Jayaraman said former chief minister J Jayalalithaa inaugurated the water supply scheme a week before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. "But the fact is that work on drinking water connections has not been completed," he said.
A Metrowater official said the utility would complete water and sewerage projects in the zone within two months, his blithe optimism out of place amid the public sense of hopelessness.
But contractors blame corruption and cost escalation for the delay. "Metrowater always demands that we quote less than the market rate. There is also pressure from local politicians for a share of the project cost," a contractor said.