Three years ago, when members of the Anna Nagar West Extension Residents’ Welfare Association requested the civic officials of Zone-8 to install a toilet at the intersection of School Road and East Main Road, the Corporation instead placed it in front of SBOA (CBSE) School, citing space as a reason.
The Namma toilet built at the cost of Rs. 11.5 lakh was opened in January 2015. But it is hardly used and remains locked most of the time. Residents say the toilet has come up at the centre of a residential area, where it is unnecessary. Corporation officials then argued that the facility would serve cab and school van drivers. However, drivers of most private school vehicles leave the campus once they pick or drop the students. “We don’t use the toilet,” said S. Baskar, a school van driver in Anna Nagar West.
The intersection of School Road and East Main Road is a commercial hub with a variety of shops. Tirumangalam police station and shopping complex of the Tamil Nadu Housing Board are also located there. Most of the commercial establishments and the Tirumangalam police station do not have toilets.
“We wrote to various civic authorities including the Mayor, the Commissioner and the local assistangt engineer (ward no: 99) when the proposal for a public toilet in the neighbourhood was mooted. But, the Corporation went against the residents requests,” says P. Vadivel, secretary, Anna Nagar West Extension Residents’ Welfare Association. Due to poor decision, residents and traders are denied a public utility.
“We will consider the request of the residents and set up another public toilet at the intersection soon,” said a Corporation official.
