Residents of several residential colonies in ward 41 in the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation have been enduring back-breaking rides for their everyday commute as roads in many of the lanes and by-lanes in colonies such as Devaraya Nagar, Renga Nagar, and Krishnamurthy Nagar have not been re-laid for more than a decade.
The situation is particularly bad in places such as Devaraya Nagar and Renga Nagar as large-sized pits have made the roads unfit for motoring.
The colonies in the ward are situated off the K.K. Nagar Main Road and are well-developed. But for the poor condition of the roads and lack of proper drainage, these are much sought-after localities by residents in the city. With many of lanes in these colonies being narrow, there is not much space for motorists to manoeuvre.
“The roads are in a bad shape, especially in Devaraya Nagar. The situation turns bad on rainy days. While some roads were laid prior to election, the works were stopped during the elections. We were told that the works would resume after election. Though we have been representing the case, there has been not much,” says J.Ramanan, a resident of Devaraya Nagar.
With the ward being represented by a DMK councillor, Kavitha Selvam, there have been allegations that it was being neglected.
Ms. Kavitha has been raising the issue repeatedly at the Council meetings and demanded answers for the delay in relaying roads in places such as Devaraya Nagar in her ward. Although officials have been assuring the residents that the roads in the colony would be re-laid, the work is yet to be sanctioned.
Her husband, S. Selvam, who had represented the ward previously, says they have been fighting over the issue for several years now. “We have represented the problem repeatedly and even staged walkouts from council meetings,” he says.
Apart from the bad condition of the roads, there is no proper drainage at Devaraya Nagar, Krishnamurthy Nagar, EB Colony, and colonies in Crawford such as Sakthi Nagar and Gandhi Nagar in the ward, he says. Of late, streetlights are not being maintained, he complained.
A senior officer of the corporation, when contacted, conceded that the roads in places such as Devaraya Nagar have been in poor condition for quite some time and a proposal to relay the roads from the corporation general funds is expected to be sanctioned soon.
