There is nothing to complain about the road leading to KAMPERS, a cluster of residential localities in Perumbakkam. To get this road, residents of KAMPERS had to move heaven and earth. For nearly eight years, their demand for a well-laid road stayed unheard. A year ago, they resorted to a road roko on the busy Medavakkam-Perumbakkam-Sholinganallur Road, and finally, this basic necessity was provided.
Residents say there are many other roads in the interior areas of the region — including Kailash Nagar, Mookambigai Nagar, Perumal Nagar, Rathinam Nagar, Sairam Nagar, Shanthi Nagar, Gurudev Colony, Indira Priyadarshini Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Prabhu Nagar, and Anandammal Nagar — that are waiting for bitumen topping and they wonder how many more road rokos may be necessary. These localities were developed in 2007. The battle for the road and other basic amenities started the same year.
K. Sarangadass, president, KAMPERS Welfare Association, says, “We presented petitions to the Perumbakkam First Grade Village Panchayat, the Kancheeepuram Collector, the CM’s Cell, the Sholinganallur Tashildar, the Revenue District Officer, and the Block Development Officer, Kancheepuram district, to provide basic civic amenities, but in vain. In 2014, school students were hurt, but none seriously, when a private van in which they were travelling toppled, after the driver lost control of the vehicle due to the muddy road. Then, our problems were highlighted in the vernacular media and we staged a road roko. Following these, the road was laid.”
In December 2015, during the floods, which assumed cataclysmic proportions in Perumbakkam, residents had to deal with flooding of a dangerous kind. Buildings were submerged up to the first floor, forcing residents to move to safer places. “We haven’t received the flood relief amount till date,” says Sarangadass.
In July this year, the State Highways Department started work on construction of Storm Water Drains on Medavakkam-Perumbakkam-Sholinganallur Road, which connects Tambaram to Rajiv Gandhi Salai.
On this stretch, the drains had been constructed above road level.
“Rainwater will be unable to drain into the stormwater drains as the drain network has not been constructed properly. There is little possibility of rainwater draining into the marshland,” says N. Nalla Sivam, treasurer, KAMPERS.
Lack of street lights is another issue plaguing the residents and motorists is stretch lamps on a section of Medavakkam-Perumbakkam-Sholinganallur Road, from the Special Economic Zone – Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SEZ-ELCOT), Sholinganallur and the Perumbakkam First Grade Village Panchayat Office.
“Vehicular traffic comes to a grinding halt due to poor visibility. The high beam lights of vehicles coming in the opposite direction are blinding for road users going towards Sholinganallur and Medavakkam,” says G. Swamy, a resident of Kailash Nagar, Perumbakkam. Non-issuance of Local Residents Passes by the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) is another issue irking residents of KAMPERS.
“We were asked to apply for a monthly pass, which costs Rs.1950. It is very costly. We buy a daily pass and commute to our workplace. According to a 2008 notification of the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, residents living within a 10-km radius of a toll plaza can avail Local Residents Pass to use the toll plaza stretch. But, we have been denied passes. We represented this issue to TNRDC and they replied that these areas do not figure in the list of localities said to be along the Project Road (which is Old Mahabalipuram Road). They asked us to go in for concession passes, return daily, multiple entry, monthly passes and monthly trips, which can be availed depending on usage,” residents say.
Other issues that have to be addressed include implementation of Perumbakkam Lake Drinking Water Project, creation of a playground, and construction of a post office and a library in the vicinity. Under this Project, water will be sourced from a well in the Perumbakkam lake, and stored in an overhead tank at KAMPERS. Residents will receive water supply through pipes connected to the overhead tank. “Though connections (pipes) have been laid, we are yet to get drinking water supply,” says Nalla Sivam.
