The residents of Ward 31 — that falls under the Madhavaram zone — as a whole, do not have much to complain about in terms of civic woes but they agree on one thing — that the local authorities need to actively coordinate in ensuring that civic demands are fulfilled in a speedy manner.
A senior official of the Chennai Corporation said the merger of Madhavaram and the surrounding areas (that was previously managed under a separate municipality) with the Chennai Corporation has paved way for new roads in all of the 12 divisions.
However, residents still find that there is a lot of scope for improving the ward and that road infrastructure alone does not help matters as there are other issues requiring immediate attention.
Among the pressing issues they listed was the high-tension electricity cable passing through their locality, road encroachments, pending piped drinking water supply and drainage schemes.
Residents of KKR Nagar said that they were still waiting action from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) officials to replace the high-tension cables with the underground electricity lines.
Kadarkaraiaandy, secretary, KKR Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, highlighted that road encroachment required urgent attention as over 2,000 sq. ft. of the 1st Main Road in KKR Nagar was encroached upon. He demanded that authorities remove them at the earliest.
Residents of KKR Garden, KKR Nagar, Thapalpetty and Roja Nagar, said that piped drinking water supply and drainage schemes have been pending for several years.
With ground water not fit for consumption due to contamination, Veera Raghavan, a resident of KKR Garden, said that people were eagerly waiting for the Metro water to supply piped drinking water. The residents also wanted civic officials to appoint caretakers to the help with better maintenance of the two parks in the ward.
The local official of the Madhavaram zone listed out the various civic works carried out in the ward including relaying of 91 interior roads out of 97 street roads at a cost of Rs. 6.50 crore, construction of stormwater drain costing Rs. 40 lakh, replacement of street lights with LED lights. The new LED lights were installed at a cost of Rs. 45 lakh covering a major portion of the ward. Also the two parks in KKR Nagar and KKR Garden have been developed with footpath and good lighting at the cost of Rs. 45 lakh.
