During the South West Monsoon and the current North East Monsoon seasons, the complaint from residents of Ganapathy Managar was that rainwater entered their houses because the height of roads had increased after they were re-laid by the Coimbatore Corporation.
While re-laying the roads, the Corporation had increased their height by a foot-and-a-half. As a consequence, the floor of houses was below the road surface and this led to rain water entering their houses, resident K. Jayachandran had said.
The absence of storm water drains had only accentuated the residents’ woes.
The residents’ plight was similar to those from other localities in the city. All the residents had complained about their houses getting flooded and blamed the Corporation for not milling (removing the top bitumen-topped layer) before taking up road construction work.
Had the Corporation milled the surface before giving a fresh bitumen coat, the road surface would have remained at the same height and they would not have to suffer, the residents said.
Even as the residents went about complaining and petitioning the Corporation authorities, the Corporation had gone about milling in some parts of the city. At present, it was engaged in milling East Periasamy Road, East Venkatasamy Road, East Ponnurangam Road among others in R.S. Puram before taking up road construction.
The Corporation officials said that the civic body had taken up the milling work on a pilot basis.
Though the Corporation had not factored in the milling work while preparing estimates to float tender for road works, it had asked the contractors to carry out the work. And, it was not only in R.S. Puram that the Corporation carried out the milling work, it had started work in localities west of Thadagam Road, south of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
Consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon said the Corporation’s milling work should not be area-specific as all residents across the city were suffering because of the Corporation laying roads without removing the bitumen-topped surface.
There were instances in the city where the residents had to climb down steps to enter their houses because successive road laying works had resulted in increase in the height of road surface.
Sometime ago the Madras High Court had directed the Municipal Administration Department to mill roads before construction, but the Chennai Corporation limited the exercise to the locality of the petitioner.
His organisation, the Coimbatore Consumer Cause, would soon file a public interest litigation asking for a direction to all local bodies and also the State Highways Department to mill all roads before construction.
A Corporation engineer said for compulsory milling, local bodies would have to estimate the cost of the work, factor it in preparing estimates to float tenders. If they did so it would not be the residents alone who would stand to gain but the local bodies too as they would save on increasing the height of storm water drains.
Most often, after laying roads the local bodies found the drains shallow and to increase their height would spend money. It could save the expenses and instead spend a portion for milling, he added.
Commissioner Sravan Kumar Jatavath said the Corporation would soon have the policy for milling all roads before construction.
