The area perimeter of Ward 184 coming under Perungudi zone forms one of the biggest divisions in the Chennai Corporation measuring more than five square kilometres. The division, though being the starting point of the IT corridor highway and fenced by well-developed residential areas of Velachery (Ward 179), a major portion of the ward is yet to be upgraded on a par with the city infrastructure.
The division comprising portions of Taramani, Perungudi and Kandanchavadi, has world class IT offices alongside slum tenements.
A majority of the residents in the locality are supposed to be economically backward as a big chunk of the ward includes the Kallukuttai settlement. The Kallukuttai settlement bordering the Pallikaranai marshland was once a vast tract of vacant lands allotted to the Directorate of Technical Education. But over the years the vacant lands were ‘converted’ into residential plots and sold off.
The ward has good public transport infrastructure facility, including the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) and good arterial road connectivity of Taramani Link Road and Rajiv Gandhi Salai. The residents of the ward, except for Kallukuttai, do not have any complaints about road infrastructure and other civic amenities.
V.S. Lingaperumal president, Ezhai Eliyor Nadhuthara Makkal Nala Sangam, complained about poor civic conditions in Kallukuttai and the complete negligence of the residents by elected representatives. He said the residents have been struggling to get patta along with piped water connection, road infrastructure and streetlights. He said, “Even electricity, which is a basic amenity, was provided by the Tamil Nadu Generaiton and Distribution Corporation only after several protests. Similarly, the residents have been seeking for piped water supply, but were denied by the government authorities citing that the lands had been encroached upon.”
A senior official of the Chennai Corporation in Perungudi Zone denied the charge that Metrowater was not provided. He said that on an average 225 trips of Metrowater tankers are being operated in the area and conservancy works are regularly taken up. As the area belongs to the Directorate of Technical Education and residents are supposed to be encroachers, the civic body could only level the interior roads and not pave new roads.
He said that more than ₹15 crore has been spent for paving interior roads, constructing stormwater drains and new footpath. Four new parks have been developed in Open Space Reservation (OSR) at a cost of ₹2 crore in CBI Colony and Thiruvalluvar Nagar.
