Old-timers of this ward joke a lot about the size of the mosquitoes and the severity of the bite back then. Though mosquitoes are not its exclusive problem anymore, encroachments, roadside parking, broken footpath and uncleared garbage make life difficult for those living along the narrow streets of West Mambalam.
Ward 135 serves as a vital link between T. Nagar, Ashok Nagar and Kodambakkam. Since roads, including Ellaiamma Koil Street are used by residents from other areas to reach T. Nagar and Saidapet, congestion is a daily occurrence here.
“Some of the streets in our ward are just 20-feet wide and only one vehicle can move at a time. If even autorickshaws are parked on the side, they cause jams almost instantly,” said a resident.
Station Road at West Mambalam is notorious for its encroachments. Both vehicles and vendors eat up every bit of road. During festival times, the congestion was more, residents said. A one-way sign board was removed from the road. “All that is required is a no-parking board and a police-towing vehicle doing the duty regularly,” another resident said.
A few accidents involving pedestrians have occurred on Arya Gowda Road, which is the widest and easily the longest in the ward. “Senior citizens and children are forced to walk on the road as footpaths on both sides are broken, are of different height and in dire need of repair,” said G. Balasubramanian, a resident.
The concrete slabs had just been arranged in some places, not cemented down. Commercial establishments too had encroached upon the footpaths, he added.
Apart from narrow roads, haphazard parking and encroachments, residents complain of lack of proper garbage clearance too. Lawyer R. Govindaraj, a resident of Lakshminarayanan Street, said garbage clearance was an issue. Not even the main roads were cleaned properly.
“The garbage trucks do not come at fixed timings. Also, they do not bother about causing inconvenience to the public due to traffic jams. The bin would not be replaced properly. Earlier, the bin used to be tied to a pole, but now that system has vanished,” he said.
Councillor Padmini Sundaram said the encroachments upon Station Road were being frequently removed. She claimed that garbage clearance was also regular. The problem was with the residents who littered the streets. The delay in garbage clearance on some days was due to vehicle breakdowns.
