Surprisingly for residents of Ward 6, which comprises areas sandwiched between Mettupalayam Road on the east and Thadagam Road on the west, water is not a problem. They want waste bins that too at the right size in the right place and drainage system as they see the two to be the biggest problems.
The reason for the problems had to with the area being a part of the Kavundampalayam Municipality prior to its merger with the Coimbatore Corporation and seeing very little investment in terms of infrastructure improvement and the situation continuing even thereafter.
Councillor L. Saraswathy said that she had managed to lay roads, add and replace street lights and attend to the other basic needs. As far as drinking water supply was concerned, the Corporation had been taking steps to improve supply by revamping the distribution network.
But, she had been finding it difficult to manage the shortage of bins. Also there was the problem of smaller bins replacing big bins and that leading to garbage overflowing onto the road.
K. Venkataramani of P&T Colony said that six months ago there was a big bin. One fine day, the civic body replaced it with a smaller one and recently even that was missing. This had resulted in the residents of the area dumping garbage on the road.
The Corporation should immediately place a bin there and also at other locations to enable residents dump waste only in the boxes.
Poompuhar Nagar resident M. Ayyappan said that the shortage of bins had also resulted in stray dogs converging in the area for food.
Near-absence of drains is another issue that the residents there suffer. Unlike the old city areas, the localities in Ward 6 do not have drains and that had resulted in residents who do not have choke pits letting off sewage on to the roads.
Ms. Saraswathy said that she built drainages, but those were in a few stretch at small budgets. What the Ward needed was drainage and storm water drainage across all localities to convey sewage.
Sources in the Corporation said that surveys were under way in added areas, including Ward 6, for improving street light coverage, constructing storm water drain and laying underground drainage.
