Foremost among the problems that concern the residents is the flooding of the road that connects the Maniakarampalayam Road with the Sathyamangalam Road – their lifeline.
Residents of Alamelu Mangapuram, Nehru Nagar, Janaki Nagar, Sreedevi Nagar and a host of other residential colonies in Ganapathy fear that the problems they face every monsoon may return this time too.
Foremost among the problems that concern the residents is the flooding of the road that connects the Maniakarampalayam Road with the Sathyamangalam Road – their lifeline. The road remains flooded knee-deep as the water overflows from the nearby drain, which is full of plants, waste and encroached upon.
R. Viswanathan, president, Alamelu Mangapuram Residents’ Welfare Association, says the Corporation has not initiated measures to provide a permanent solution to ensure the smooth of flow of water or sewage. About four months ago, the civic body made an attempt but it was half-hearted.
Conservancy workers who removed earth or sludge from the drain have dumped the same along the drain. Since they dumped the earth or sludge, which is four months ago, the same has been falling into the drain, thus defeating the objective of the cleaning operation.
M. Rajagopal, the secretary of the Association, says that every monsoon the residents wade through water, competing with snakes and reptiles in their journey to Maniakarampalayam Road or Sathyamangalam Road.
Worst affected are the students, complements P. Balraj, a resident of the neighbouring Nehru Nagar. The school vehicles find it difficult to move on the road, making it difficult for residents to help the children board the vehicles.
There are 1,500 children in the localities there, says J. Sivakumar, a resident of Thiruvenkata Nagar.
The residents say the Corporation should clean the drain, remove encroachment, which are many, and construct revetments so that there is no problem in the future.
The area representative, Ward 41 Councillor C. Natarajan, says that he is aware of the issue. Four months ago, the Corporation had cleaned the drain but the growth of shrubs had undone the work. For a permanent solution, he had petitioned the Mayor S.M. Velusamy and Commissioner T.K. Ponnusamy.
It has been a long-standing problem, acknowledges P. Rajkumar, Chairman, North Zone. The Corporation should remove encroachments, construct revetments and provide a walkers path so that the people of the host of residential colonies there have a healthy living atmosphere.
He says he has spoken to the Mayor and the Commissioner in this regard.
Keywords: monsoon season, flooding of the road
