CHENNAI: It has been over nine months since the Maraimalai Adigal Bridge at Saidapet was submerged by the Cooum, leaving over 2,000 people homeless.
Ward 170 covers areas like Saidapet, Teynampet, Guindy, Nandanam, and Little Mount.
Thousands of residents of Housing Board flats at Koothamedu and Salavaiyalar Colony, whose homes had washed away, had to re-start their lives from scratch.
A. Iruthayaraj, and I. Parimala, residents of Salavaiyalar Colony, who were running a tailoring unit said they had lost all their equipments worth Rs. 50,000.
The couple were among the many in the Mambalam Taluk — that covers Ashok Nagar, K. K. Nagar, Jafferkhanpet, M. G. R. Nagar, T. Nagar, and Saidapet — who are yet to receive the flood relief amount.
Social activist V. Ravichandran, founder, Citizens Guardians, said: “I filed a plea under the RTI Act seeking information regarding the rehabilitation measures undertaken by the State Government. When I didn’t get a reply, I filed for another appeal to the Appellate Authority, RTI, Office of the Mambalam Taluk, and they replied on July 27 (No: B2 / 3992 / 2016) stating that around 1,89,121 people, affected by the floods, have been enumerated and an amount of Rs. 83 Cr. was allocated by the State Government to be disbursed as flood-relief amounts for people affected. But, over 40 per cent of them have not received it. The disbursal of the amount stopped once the model code of conduct came into effect from March 04, Friday, 2016,” Mr. Ravichandran, added.
The reply stated the amount was distributed to all families, who were affected by the floods, and were present at the time of enumeration, except those families, whose accounts could not be verified, and who have not provided complete banks’ accounts’ details, he pointed out.
“A re-enumeration should have been done by the authorities concerned,” he said.
“We were assured the relief amount and construction of homes at Perumbakkam. But, we are yet to receive the amount,” said Iruthayaraj.
However, the authorities said there was no further orders post-elections from the State government regarding relief amount disbursal nor rehabilitation.
A long pending demand A long-pending demand is the creation of a zebra-crossing facility at the intersection of the Muthu Kumaraswamy Naicker Road and Anna Salai at Guindy to reach Thiru Vi Ka Industrial Estate.
The zebra-crossing at the intersection of Kathipara Road, Anna Salai, and M. K. N. Road in Guindy has been blocked by boulders. Pedestrians are often seen jumping over medians to reach the other side In order to cross the GST Road, walkers have to take the pedestrian subway connecting Guindy Railway Station, Race Course Bus Stop, and Alandur.P. Sathyanarayanan, a senior citizen, and a resident of Race View Colony, Bharathi Nagar, said: “The boulders must be removed as the crossing provides principal access from Bus Stop at M.K.N. Road to the Guindy Industrial Estate.”
During rush hour, it is a harrowing experience for pedestrians to use the subway as it is always crowded. The nearest pedestrian crossing is located near the New Life Assembly of God, Little Mount.
When contacted, Chennai Traffic Police officials said many accidents had taken place at the intersection of Anna Salai and M.K.N. Road, as vehicles often turns at high speeds on to the Grand Southern Trunk Road.
We are looking at a proposal for creating a pedestrian crossing beyond the intersection,” the officials said.
