Metrowater pipes remain dry on RK Salai for two weeks now

Chennai: The heart of Chennai has gone dry. For more than 15 days, residents around Radhakrishnan Salai in Mylapore have been without water supply from Metrowater. And the agency has not responded to frantic calls for water tankers.

More than 20,000 people have been forced to use salty, yellow borewell water for their daily household needs. Residents said there has been no word from the authorities on when the ordeal would end.

Residents of Jambulingam Street, Rajasekaran Street, and 9th Street, who have been dependent on piped water, said they were caught unawares when the pipes suddenly went dry two weeks ago. "We waited for a few days, hoping the supply would resume, but it hasn't," said S R Venkateswaran, a resident of Rajasekaran Street in Mylapore. "We reached out to Metrowater officials, but they couldn't give a reason for the sudden interruption. We have no option but to use borewell water for domestic purposes and buy canned water for cooking."

Residents who tried to book water tankers through Metrowater's ‘Dial for water' service said there was poor or no response "We filed an online complaint, but without interacting with residents or addressing the issue, the complaint was simply closed," said S Gandhi, a resident of Jambulingam Street. "If there was any maintenance work or a problem being resolved, they should have issued a prior notice so we could have made alternative arrangements."

When contacted, a senior official of Metrowater said the disruption was due to a pipeline pressure issue from the Kilpauk water treatment plant. "Rectification work is on, and water supply is expected to resume within two days," he said.