A week ago, these two stretches in West Mambalam were black. Now, a dash of grey has been added to them. This was done overnight, allegedly without taking residents’ views into consideration.
Not many residents are happy with the decision to cement-top Venkatachalam Street and Satyapuri Street. Residents such as Sankarnarayanan say cement-topping would help prevent frequent road damages. However, laying them on top of the existing road surface would not help the cause.
Venkatachalam Street and Satyapuri Street are found in low-lying areas and complaints of water stagnation pour in every time it rains. “Now the adjoining Giri Street has become lower than these two streets and rainwater run-offs will now stagnate here. Had they scarped the old road and levelled it with cement, which is the standard procedure , we would not have minded. Now, many old houses on the streets are below the road level now. It is such an inconvenience to the residents here,” he says.
Residents allege that storm water drains were constructed on these streets only recently and even before they could be connected to the main line, the roads were cemented, leaving no space for water to enter the drains.
“Our streets already had storm water drains made out of brick and they were working well. They were unnecessarily replaced with stone blocks, which were left unconnected. On top of it, the cement road has been laid. Now, what is the purpose of a drain if water is not allowed to flow into it. We dread the rains now, for water will surely stagnate due to cement-topping,” says Rangarajan, another resident.
The hard cement surface will also affect EB and sewage works. Residents fear that in case of any problem, the workers would not be able to break through the road easily.
“All our EB lines run underground. Also, sewage blockages are a recurrent problems here. On Venkatachalam Street, the cement road has covered all the manholes. In case of a blockage, Metro Water workers will not be able to locate the manholes. Also breaking the road will be hard. Tar-topped roads don’t pose this problem,” adds Rajagopalan.
Residents say appeals have been made to the councillor regarding Giri Street. “Even Giri Street is likely to be cement-topped, but we don’t want work to be carried out in a similar fashion. Any such project should involve discussion with the stakeholders, the residents. If authorities plan to go ahead with the work, at least the old road should be scrapped and re-laid,” says Satyanarayanan.
