Severe traffic congestion, lack of good roads and flooding during monsoon are some of the issues that residents of Nelson Manickam Road, Aminjikarai, M.H. Colony, Arumbakkam and Ayyavoo Colony in ward 106 have been grappling with for quite sometime now.
Selvi Krishnakumar, a resident of Ayyavoo Colony, says it takes her an hour to get to her workplace in Nungambakkam every day owing to the traffic congestion on Nelson Manickam Road. “It is absolutely chaotic. Though this problem has been persisting for years, no one has taken any action,” she complains.
Also, several by-lanes branching off Nelson Manickam Road get flooded during monsoon showers. S. Renuka Devi, a resident of Indira Gandhi Nagar Street said, “The canal [Arumbakkam-Virugambakkam canal] overflowed last December and our houses were flooded with drainage. And residents continue to dump garbage into the canal. The area stinks and has turned into a breeding site for mosquitoes.” Just one street light was installed sometime back and even that has stopped working now, she added.
Some of the streets in M.H. Colony have poorly-designed speed brakers that are dangerous for motorists. K. Vasudevan, a commuter said, “At night, these are hardly visible and there is every chance one might skid and fall. Why should there be a speed brakers in narrow streets? At least, they could have been laid according to standards.”
Councillor A.E. Venkatesan said a compound wall has been built along portions on either side of the canal to prevent flooding in future. “Recently, 15 roads were re-laid and the remaining road works will be taken up soon,” he said promising to look into the issue of uneven speed brakers.
