Pollution and Real Estate: Chaos in Chennai's Nandambakkam and What The City Can Learn From Gurgaon

In Chennai, a polluted open drain is attracting attention of public officials because it threatens public health at the venue of Global Investors' Meet. Government officials are unable to plug this open drain, and claim that this is sewage discharge from homes and shops in and around Nandambakkam. As the sewage discharge reaches the Trade Centre, authorities plan to redirect it to River to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes. But, many claim that this happened because the Corporation and Metrowater failed in cracking down on transgressors due to insufficient manpower. They argue that the same is is true in many parts of the city.

Poor sewage systems are common in cities across the country. Gurgaon is another Indian city which is comparable to Chennai in air quality and poorly performing sewage system. Gurgaon, for instance, was considered not livable enough in a recent survey reported by Times of India.

Comparing facts:

• According to Numbeo, world's largest database of user-generated data about cities and countries worldwide, on a scale of 100, Chennai's pollution Index is 75.65 and Gurgaon's pollution Index is 85.75.

• On dissatisfaction of garbage disposal, Chennai's score is high, at 71.61 and Gurgaon's score is high at 79.17.

• In water pollution, both cities score highly, at 62.96 and 82.03 respectively. In lack of tidiness too, both cities score highly, at 73.73 and 79.41 respectively.

What can Chennai and other Indian cities learn from Gurgaon's experience with sewage system? Putting in place unified sewage systems would definitely be one.

How Do Unified Sewage Systems Work?

Lack of coordination between sewage drains is a result of inadequate urban planning. If the drain in Chennai, for instance, was connected to an official sewage line, it would not have polluted the city, risking the lives of people living in the surrounding areas. Such unified systems are important to make a city livable and homes affordable. Better sewage systems would most definitely result in great price appreciation for apartments in Chennai and apartments in Gurgaon for the quality of life offered. The same would hold true for most cities, given that prices of property in India are greatly influenced by the level of social infrastructure and civic amenities in a given area.

Three Steps To Efficient Sewage Systems

• The government should ensure that sewage is treated efficiently in public plants.

• The government should ensure that illegal operation of drains do not contaminate ground water in the city. In Gurgaon, for instance, private firms have sewage lines that do not connect to public lines. They are connected to tanks that are dumped in public places. Very few private firms have sewage treatment systems. Private players often do not build deep, long sewage networks.

• Cities should build more extensive sewage networks. The case of Gurgaon and Chennai are not unusual. Out of 5,161 cities and towns in India, 4,861 of them lack even a partial sewage network.