The residents of Ward 33, which covers the Anna Nagar Housing board as well as a number of other residential areas such as Sikandarpuram, Muthuramalinga Thevar Street, Jeeva Street, and Kamarajar Street are battling a mixed bag of problems.
As is the case with most parts of the city, many areas in the ward are reeling under an acute water shortage. “For 140 houses here, we buy more than 48,000 litres of water on a daily basis to meet our needs.
The residents who were paying a monthly maintenance charge of Rs. 300 are now forced to pay an additional Rs. 600 towards buying water,” said Prabhu Hameed, a resident of the housing board at Shenbagathottam.
The residents said that though the corporation was pumping 3,000 litres of water on a daily basis in the overhead tank in their area, it was hardly enough to meet their daily requirement.
“We have asked the corporation for a separate borewell to be sunk for our area so that we get some reprieve from the water shortage and are spared of the expenses,” the residents said.
The area councillor N. Murugan, however said that they had earlier tried to sink a borewell at Shenbagathottam which wasn’t of any use. “Even after 700 feet, we could not find any water. However, we have considered the issues faced by the residents and have sent a proposal for ten borewells to be sunk in the ward after survey by engineers of the groundwater levels,” he stated.
Cement roads here, which include Periyar Street, Vanchinathan Street and KTK Thangamani Street are in a pathetic condition and have been posing problems to the pedestrians and motorists alike.
“The roads were laid nearly fifteen years ago and have begun to give way. We have submitted a proposal to the city corporation to lay the roads with paver blocks which will be durable,” said Mr. Murugan.
The open storm water drain near the Vinayagar Temple in Shenbagathottam which has become a dumping spot for garbage in addition to carrying sewage has raised health concerns among the residents and shopkeepers there.
“After 5 p.m., it becomes impossible for us to sit here due to the mosquito menace. We are constantly scared that we might get dengue or malaria,” said K. Pandi, a petty shop owner in the area. “We have asked for the walls around the channel to be raised or cover the channel with cement tiles,” he added.
A little away from there, the residents of the E Block at the Anna Nagar Housing Board have the sewage water from their complex flowing behind their residential building.
“Six months ago, a resident was affected by dengue due to the mosquitoes here and we have been living in fear. The sewage should drain into the storm water channel nearby and the residential association is carrying this work out,” said K. Ramakrishnan, a resident.
Mr. Murugan, the ward councillor, voiced his concern about the condition of the E Block of the housing board complex. A few walls in the building have large gaping holes and there are large cracks in the houses as well.
“Most of the houses have been let on rent by the owners who live elsewhere. Since they are asked to pay very less, the residents are refusing to move out and remain unconcerned about the danger that might befall them if the building collapses,” he claimed.
Open Ground
A large open ground in the area, which used to be a playground has now become a dumping yard for construction materials. “Many anti-social elements too have been using the ground in the night for drinking and brawls have happened with the residents here,” said P. Anandraj, head of the Pennycuick Residential Association.
“We have requested the city corporation to clear the ground and convert it into a play area for the children here,” he added.
The residents however, also had a fair share of positives in the locality.
“As far as garbage collection and the functioning of street lights are concerned, we have had no problems. Most of our streets are clean and the authorities have been very approachable with regard to our complaints,” said L. Shankar, a resident of HIG Colony.
