Men at Risk: Manual De-silting of Chennai Storm-Water Drainage System



Men at Risk: Manual De-Silting of Chennai Storm-Water Drainage System

 

The storm-water drainage system in the zones of the Chennai Corporation is easily gets exposed even the shortest spell of rains. The  city's 1,660 km of storm water drain-system are affected by water stagnation and flooding during monsoon.

The Corporation of Chennai, India has only one method of cleaning. It is one of the most off-putting sights in ‘Singaara Chennai’ (Beautiful Chennai). The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) has undertaken de-silting operation of storm-water drains in a cyclic manner and removing the silt or sludge from the storm water drains. Usually it was carried out twice in a year. The departmental de-silting men were engaged as a weekly program. Now contract laborers are engaged to de=silt 52,000 meters of sewer lines and 1,800 manholes. The inspection chambers are opened and the de-silting men manually remove the silt. And it is terribly out-of-date and the men are risking their life. I have captured this sewage cleaning man at Broadway, Chennai.

Knife Sharpner in Streets: Chennai Vendors

Knife Sharpner seen with his machine in Chennai

Knife sharpner engaged in shrpening knife

Knife Sharpeners in India (You Tube)

It is a common sight to see Knife sharpening people carrying the strange old portable machine on their back and moves around the narrow lanes and bylanes of Chennai. The so called sharpening machine is the uncomplicated wooden frame, an old bicycle rim connected to the foot operated pedal through a shaft and crank, the whetstone or grindstone  wheel fixed on top and the thick cord serves as the belt between bicycle rim and the whetstone or grindstone wheel. While shaperpening the knife the man operates the pedal and the two wheels are in motion and the whetstone or grindstone wheel sharpens the knife based on the priciples of friction.

Most of the knife sharpening people found in Chennai are Muslims. They sharpen knives, scissors, arivalmanai (used for cutting vegetables in Chennai) and other sharp metal objects from the household women to the fruit vendors.

It is rare to see the vendors engaged in sharpening knives and scissors are and the trade is simply becoming redundant with time. People prefer to purchase a new pair of scissors or a knife to save themselves the hassle of waiting for an itinerant knife sharpener to appear around their streets.

Visually Challenged People at Saidapet Railway Station

visually challenged people keep walking at Saidapet Railway Station, Chennai

In Chennai a survey was conducted. The suburban railway network of Chennai happens to be the choice of the visually challenged people. On this network, Researcher noticed that: 119 visually challenged had been reducing to begging, with no other means to meet their bare ends. Shockingly, 82 of these 119 people were educated. The visually challenged also took to selling various household utility items and lottery tickets. They, in turn, faced several hurdles in the process. (Nethrodaya - A Self-Help Organization for the Visually Impaired http://www.nethrodaya.org/genesis.html)

285 million people are visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision. About 90% of the world's visually impaired live in developing countries. Visually impaired and blind people have devised a number of techniques that allow them to complete daily activities using their remaining senses.

Sowcarpet at Mint Street, Chennai: A Reminiscent of North Indian Small Town

Min Street A Congested Place

From Park Town to Mint there exist a narrow and heavily congested street with tightly packed buildings with its culturally rich heritage and history.  It’s called Mint Street - a world wherein wholesale markets,  hardware stores, clothe shops, temples, eateries, pavement vendors, street hawkers and stranded cattle  compete for space. The street always remains busy with people carrying head loads of bundles or tri-cycles transporting huge loads of goods or Scooters overloaded with entire family, noisy auto-rickshaws, man-pulled carts and sidelined pedestrians. The entire stretch is an assortment of shops selling all kinds of things - electronic goods, bangles, materials for jewellery, sarees, salwars, dry-fruits, sweets, fruits Rajasthani pickles, papads spices. Name boards of firms and business houses appear in Gujarati, Rajasthani and Hindi scripts.

What could be the tradition and culture of Jaipur or Jodhpur is becoming common scene in Sowcarpet and men found in shops and streets wear traditional kurta and dhoti and young and old women walk past  in traditional lehenga choli or colorful sarees with faces fully veiled. It is reminiscent of a small North Indian town.

Long back in 1700s this street was called as washers street, since the Telugu speaking washers and bleachers employed by the British East India Company occupied this street. Soon Beri Chettis and Gomutti Chettis followed them to this place. Also there were middlemen and dubashes. Later on during 1740s Gujarati from the land of Saurashtra known for its textile factories occupied the north western part of mint and got extended their area up to Elephant gate. The Marwaris (from parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat states)  known for their money lending business also mingled with these joints. The present name 'Sowcarpet' derived from the Hindi word 'Sahukar' meaning money lender. It is a place where people from different states, different languages, different cultures live together in harmony. 

Mint Street at Sowcarpet - Street Scene

Sowcarpet Narrow Lane Glittering with Rake - A Day before Raksha Bandhan

Textile at Sowcarpet Lane

Women in Sowcarpet Lane

Typical Marwari Elderly Woman

Typical Marwari Elderly Man

Men at Rest in Sowcarpet

Juna Jain Mandir

Mehendhi Session

Street Scene at Sowcarpet

Another Street Scene in Sowcarpet

Adyar River at Manapakkam: Washermens' Source of Livelihood

Adyar River: Washermen's Source of Livelihood 1, a photo by Muthusamy Photostream on Flickr.

The 42.5 km-long Adyar river, once regarded as the pride of Chennai, is becoming a polluted river. More and more drainage channels from various ends of the city mix in Adyar river. However Adyar is the source of livelyhood for number of washermen. From Manapakkam bridge (near war cemetry) I have viewed the washermen washing and drying the clothes. The riverbed is highly polluted with drainage water, yet the river is also becoming washing area.