Five years ago, when the Greater Chennai Corporation was expanded, residents of Ward 34 in Kodungaiyur, located north of the city, had a long wish list that included bitumen-topped roads, regular water supply, a modern crematorium, bright street lights and more parks for children.
Now they have most of it, except a few unfulfilled wishes: a government health centre, a State-run higher secondary school and a library. They had all three before the neighbourhood (which was Ward 01 then) was bifurcated into two wards — 34 and 35 — five years ago as part of the expansion of the Corporation.
Currently, the residents of ward 34 have to travel to their neighbouring Ward 35 to avail themselves of these facilities. “During emergencies, we have to rush our children to the health centre at Ward 35, which is around four km from our place. A government health centre at Ward 34 will end our ordeal,” says K. Pandiammal, a resident of Harbour Colony at Kodungaiyur.
Rush at the existing government health centre on Kamaraj Salai at Kodungaiyur shows its level of patronage and need for an additional facility with adequate staff in the neighbourhood. E. Lakshminarayanan, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) councillor of Ward 34, agrees, but cites lack of public space for a new health centre.
Projects such as a new high school and a State-run branch library also face the same problem. Acquiring private land for public purpose will be an alternative, residents say.
Once a mango grove, Kodungaiyur was a major farming neighbourhood in the north, comprising areas like Jambuli, Kodungaiyur, Little Kodungaiyur, Selvayil and Kadambadi, until two decades ago. Then big houses and small industrial units that involved in paints, chemicals and stainless steel products replaced them. Now, Kodungaiyur has around 50 hectares of mango groves, palm trees and nurseries.
Safety, residents said, was another major concern in the neighbourhood as a spate of petty crimes, including chain-snatching, house breaks-in and thefts in recent months have left the residents shocking.
Lack of adequate patrolling by the Kodungaiyur police is blamed. This despite the fact that more than 70 per cent of the sodium vapour lights on 560 streets were replaced with LED lamps (2,600 of them) so far.
