When member-residents of the Uzhavar Sandhai Facing Residents’ Welfare Association first made an appeal to the Coimbatore Corporation to repair the Vasanth Nagar main road, little would they have expected that it would be a difficult job. And that they would have to knock on all doors possible to have the work done.
As on August 17, it has been eights years and their demand is yet to be met. Secretary of the Association P.S. Narayanan says that in these eights years the residents have suffered loose stones, pot holes, slippery roads and the list goes on.
Around 500 residents of Vasanth Nagar, State Bank Colony, Green Park Avenue, Balaji Nagar and Thasami Park Residency are affected as the Vasanth Nagar Main Road is the only road available for the residents to reach Trichy Rod.
For about 500 m, the road is in a very bad shape and thereafter it is good in that the Corporation has topped the road with bitumen. This is what troubles the residents. “
We are at a loss to understand why the Corporation has not laid the first 500 m,” says V. Marappan, a resident of Vasanth Nagar.
At the last local body election, this was an important issue. The current Ward 63 Councillor K.B. Balrose, who was the AIADMK candidate, promised to repair the road at the earliest, if he was elected. Now it is almost a year since he won but nothing much has changed, rues Mr. Narayanan.
When the Association approached the Corporation, the officials there told them that the civic body would take up the work only after the completion of the underground drainage work, which would another two years.
Another two years’ wait is unacceptable. Before the onset of the monsoon, the Corporation must repair the road, he demands.
Poor park maintenance
Yet another issue that troubles the residents is the very poor maintenance of the park in State Bank Colony. The Corporation claims to have spent Rs. 17 lakh towards its maintenance. But the bushes, thorny shrubs and broken tiles suggest that the truth is something else.
Mr. Narayanan says that the park is home to snakes and those who live in the vicinity are troubled. The Corporation will do well to repair the park and if it does so, the Association is ready to take up the maintenance.
He also says that the Corporation must clean and desilt the canal that runs through the locality, for there is every possibility of the area getting flooded. Twice in the last year, sewage from the canal inundated the area, making life miserable for the residents, recalls Mr. Marappan.
The Councillor says that the desilting work will begin soon as the earth movers are busy carrying out cleaning work in a neighbouring ward.
