CHENNAI: Underground drainage for SholinganallurG Dhanapal (48), a third generation citizen of Sholinganallur, has a long wish list for the Mayor.Ward No 197, carved out of Karappakkam and half of the erstwhile Sholinganallur, is a typical example of what happens when a village suddenly sees an outburst of urbanism.He said, “We have drainage overflowing, making an unsightly scene. Also these swathes of drainage are the ultimate breeding grounds for mosquitoes. When rains hit this area, the whole place gets messier and is completely unlivable. An integrated underground drainage system is the top priority.” The second on his wish list is a government hospital. “There are close to 50,000 residents here. In case of an emergency we have only the private hospitals.”Only 30 per cent of the households have municipal drinking water connections. Not surprisingly, power is another bone of contention. “In reality, on an average, we have three hours of power cut,” he added. Keeping hand-in-hand with development, illegal encroachments have also cropped up in this neighbourhood. Dhanapal pointed out how Gandhi Nagar had come into existence by gradually filling up Rettaiyeri (lake). “We want the mayor to look into this immediately.”Perennial problems faced by Northern suburbsThe systematic disposal of garbage in northern fringes of the city,
including Tiruvottiyur, Ennore-Kathivakkam, Manali, Mathur and Manali
New Town, is perhaps best described to be in shambles.Since no
proper facilities are in place in these local bodies, being managed by
skeletal staff, residents mostly dumped their trash on street corners
and blamed the local body for not removing it.“The residents would
be happy if the new Mayor solves the perennial issue within months,”
said Kumar, a resident of Kathivakkam. Besides the garbage removal
problem, most of these localities are without proper piped drinking
water in these areas. During the previous regime, huge overhead water
storage tanks were constructed but they were not given connectivity to
the main line and the residents had to bank on private drinking water
suppliers for their daily requirement.Most of the recently annexed
areas in the northern suburbs lack an underground sewage system and
proper disposal. Though the previous government started the works after
getting grants under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
project at Madhavaram and Tiruvottiyur, most of them were not
interconnected to let the sewage into the pumping station. Another
grouse is the pitiable condition of roads in interior Thiruvottiyur and
parts of Ennore and Edayanchavadi. Residents pin their hopes on the new
Mayor for completing the anti-sea-erosion project on Ennore link road
from Ernavur Bridge. The work that started over a decade ago still
continues. Sea erosion on the stretch has become a perennial problem for
the fishing hamlets and during high tides, vehicles, including the MTC
buses, are not able to pass through. Mogappair, Ambattur cry for better roadsEven as torrential showers continued to pound Chennai and its suburbs,
the newly included areas of Mogappair, Ambattur Industrial Estate and
other areas that were part of the erstwhile Ambattur Municipality scream
for better roads. “For many years, the Thirumangalam-Ambattur Estate
stretch has been in bad condition,” explains Dr Baskar, a civic activist
involved with the residents’ associations in the area. “Children
and parents are very badly affected by the condition of the road on this
stretch,” adds Nirmal Chander, the Secretary of the Krishna Nagar
Residents’ Association. “With three major schools, there are plenty of
children walking along the road.” Even as the change of guard has taken place, signs of repairs seem inadequate. They
both protest, “Bits of patchwork and cement slabs will just come undone
in these rains. Water-logging will also become a serious problem.”Take care of Madipakkam too please!Underground drainage, dedicated drinking water supply through the Metro
Water and proper garbage clearance are the key demands of Madipakkam
residents. They expect the new Mayor to address these issues on a
priority basis. Speaking to City Express, V Subramani, a resident of
Iyappa Nagar, says Madipakkam is perhaps the only area that had been
neglected for a very long period of time for a variety of reasons.
Despite repeated representations, all the civic issues have remained
unaddressed. “As Madipakkam had been a village panchayat all these
years, officials often used to point finger at poor financial resources.
Now, we hope our problems will be addressed. We urge the mayor to
include Madipakkam in his list of priorities,” Subramani says. On other important issues, other residents refer to the Madipakkam lake that is being ‘ruined’. Through certain inlets, sewage water is being let into the sprawling 62-acre water body. In
certain areas, sewage is let into the lake through concealed pipelines.
Efforts in the past to beautify the lake failed miserably and though a
barbed wire fence was put up many years ago, it could not help much. Now
residents expect the lake to be desilted and cleaned. Strengthening the
bund, besides providing footpath for walkers and growing ornamental
plants, shelters at the bus terminus and storm water drains are also
stressed by them. It’s a bumpy ride at MadhavaramIn what has become an oft repeated tale of woe, residents of Madhavaram
lament the lack of roads in the area. With the locality now coming under
Zone III of the Chennai Corporation, Babu, president of a flat owners
association in the area, says, “There has no black topping for several
years. If they happen to lay the road, within two days some other
department digs it up.” The badly laid roads also make for a bumpy ride.
This being the main thoroughfare for residents, almost everyone is
affected. Moolakadai Junction sees the worst. Another major issue is the
lack of sufficient drainage. Babu says that those living in apartment
complexes are the worst affected, not to mention the fact that it is
unhygienic. Metro water supply is high on the wish list in Madhavaram.
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