For residents of Ramnagar the list of woes has only increased with the Corporation taking up the storm water drainage work.
Residents say the slow pace of work has troubled them to no end. The Corporation digs up the roads, junctions and leaves them unattended for days together. This forces the road users to take a detour, residents to park their vehicles outside the house and the elderly from moving with ease, says T.V. Kalyanakrishnan, president, Ramnagar Residents' Welfare Association.
He refers to Kalidas Road – Rajaji Road junction to underscore his point. “The work there was started over a month-and-half-ago and it is not complete yet. People on both sides of the junction are finding it difficult to move over to the other side and motorists moving on Rajaji Road are forced to take Sathyamoorthy Road to reach Kalidas Road.”
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The work on Sathyamoorthy Road, near the park, is also delayed, says B. Govindarajan, Joint Secretary of the Association. The Corporation does not seem to coordinate its activities. The construction takes place long after digging.
The dug stretch remains unattended for long, because of which the residents find it difficult to either taken in or take out their vehicles.
He also says that at the time of digging, the Corporation damages water supply line, telephone cables and other connections. The civic body should try using men to dig the stretch and not earthmovers.
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Ward 28 Councillor K. Srinivasan laments that the initiation of storm water drainage project all the good work carried out in Ramnagar in the past five years.
Unable to withstand the way the Coimbatore Corporation has been carrying out the work, the residents and he complained to the district Collector, who visited the area and asked the civic body to expedite the work.
Even as the residents learn to live with the storm water drain work, the Rajaji Road – Nehru Road junction is dug.
A small stretch of road, perhaps to plug a leak in the water supply pipeline, has been dug. Since it is right at the junction, there have been instances of people tripping over the dug earth and falling into the pit, complaints Mr. Kalyanakrishnan.
He wants the authorities concerned to immediately restore the crucial stretch of road to prevent further accidents.
Sources in the Corporation assure that they will ensure completion of work at the earliest.