Residents of the Chromepet New Colony, which falling under the 38th ward of Pallavapuram municipality, say their locality lacks proper civic amenities. It has a number of civic problems such as bad roads, blockages in stormwater drains, encroachments and haphazard vehicular parking.
The residents are helpless as several complaints to the authorities concerned have evoked no response. The recent showers have only added to their misery with interior roads in the locality severely battered, says a resident. ∝“It is a harrowing experience travelling on the roads of this locality. At the junction of 12th Cross Street and Third Main Road, people have to wade through knee-deep water. The 13th Cross Street is full of potholes and gets inundated when it rains.
There have been instances of school students falling off their bicycles, when they use the thoroughfare. Pedestrians are the worst-affected and several complaints have been made to the municipality,” residents said.
It is a similar situation at 16th Cross Street, Second Main Road and Mummurthy Nagar Main Road.
What has angered the residents even more is the promise made by the municipality to tackle the civic issues after providing underground drainage connections.
Residents complained that the roads, which were dug up for laying the metrowater pipes were not levelled properly and so, the senior citizens were put to great hardship.
“The municipality can take up temporary works till the UGD connection is provided and Metrowater pipes are laid. If the potholes are filled with the debris and the roads are levelled, it would be of much help.”
Apart from this, residents have requested the municipality to de-silt sewer drains before the onset of monsoon. The de-silting of storm water drains (SWD) in New Colony had not been carried out for the past couple of years. Residents complain that this has led to mosquito menace.
A few residents throw away all kinds of wastes into the sewer drains, which leads to blockages in the sewer culverts. The blockage is yet to be cleared, they added.
Proliferation of commercial establishmentsAdding salt to the injury is the proliferation of commercial establishments on the service road of the Grand Southern Trunk (GST), on the western side of the Chromepet Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) flyover. Clients and visitors of these enterprises park their vehicles on the service lanes of the Colony hindering free movement of pedestrian traffic.
“This problem goes unchecked. Neither the Pallavapuram municipality nor the Chennai Traffic Police seems to address this problem. The authorities concerned have turned a deaf ear to the repeated requests by various residents welfare associations,” V. Purushothaman, treasurer, The Chromepet New Colony Residents Welfare Society, said.
An encroachment by a vehicle workshop on a small stretch connecting 15th and 16th Cross Streets leaves little space for road users. The situation is worse on GST service road, as vehicles are parked on the footpaths, Purushothaman added. Official sources in the municipality said steps would be taken at the earliest to re-lay the battered roads after providing Underground Drainage System connections and laying of Metrowater pipes. Temporary measures such as filling the potholes with debris and levelling the roads will be taken up. The municipality is taking steps to de-silt the sewer drains before the onset of monsoon, the sources pointed out.
