Despite reaping the benefits of its merger with the Greater Chennai Corporation, old problems continue to worry residents of Ward No. 167, Nanganallur. A poor stormwater drain network that results in inundation during monsoon every year, is a perennial problem here.
Most residents do not have have complaints about the roads, streetlights or water supply, but said problems such as inundation and improvement in electricity supply need to be addressed.
The area comprises a composite of residential as well as commercial establishments and is growing rapidly with a large number of families settling down here every year. Rise in number of apartment complexes has resulted in an increase in the population and hence this ward needs matching infrastructure facilities. The residents here have several demands, just like their residents in other wards of zone 12.
Apart from widening the arterial 4th and 5th main roads, construction of an Amma Kudineer Hut and a few parks in the ward, the residents also want an electricity substation of 110Kv capacity. “The area is vast and populated. With a lot of commercial activity in the locality we need adequate power supply,” said V Ramarao, social activist.
An important demand is for an upgraded storm water drain network to connect Veerangal Odai with the other side of the ward. “Last year people we experienced faced serious problems of inundation. Though the Chennai Corporation constructed a stormwater drain on one side of 100 Feet Road, it is doubtful that it could take the entire rainwater from more than three upstream areas,” said Mr. Ramarao.
The ward does not have any slums but residents complained that several pockets suffered from water stagnation for as many as 15 days during the deluge in December last year. Residents of B.V. Nagar also suggested that the Corporation should conduct an audit and construct drains to connect with Veerangal Odai, a principal channel transporting water into Pallikaranai Marshland.
V. Sadhasivam, a shop owner from Kanakammal Colony said there was a need for at least one library. “The space can easily be located inside Nanganallur if the Open Space Reservation lands are being properly accounted for,” he suggested.
