Basic amenities fail to match speed of construction

In the recent few years particularly after the completion of the work on the four-lane of the Tiruchi–Chennai National Highway, the Kumbakonathan Salai has emerged a rapidly developing residential area.

A number of residential colonies have come up in the recent years, while construction activity has been quite brisk at a chain of apartments.

Forming the link between the four-lane NH-45 and the Trunk (GST) Road in Tiruvanaikovil, the two-km stretch is much sought after by those dreaming to own a house and investors willing to bet on land. Although the apartments under construction have their own in-built facilities, a number of residential areas in the vicinity do not have basic amenities. Most serious among them is the absence of underground drainage facilities in residential pockets. Some of the residents also lack drinking water connections.

Street lighting is not only inadequate but even in places where poles are present the tube lights are dysfunctional, laments residents. Priya Garden, Sivasakthi Garden, and Kandan Nagar account for an estimated 300 houses. In each area, about 25 to 30 houses have been constructed. There are vacant plots too in all these areas.

“The houses have been constructed in a low-lying area. The absence of road facility has been a major handicap,” says K.R.Sivabalan, a resident of Priya Garden. He says that the problem gets aggravated during monsoon and residents have to make arrangements for filling the pits with gravel.

The residents had incurred about Rs.1lakh for laying the road. They said that the Tiruchi Corporation should take immediate action to provide the facility. Women often fall from their two-wheelers, unable to drive up the steep gradient.

Prema, a homemaker, says that drinking water pipelines should be put up in their residential areas. She presently had to compromise with poor quality water she gets from her bore well. A few residents say that the corporation should convene a meeting and initiate steps for providing the basic amenities to them.