For N. Rajapandi, a resident of Kannanendal (Ward 25), his back and motorcycle have experienced extensive damage in the past six years. He uses the 120 Feet Road connecting Surveyor Colony with Mattuthavani to reach his small watermelon stall every day. He says that indents on the road have contributed to wear and tear of his body.
He is not alone. Several other residents of the ward claim that this stretch, notorious for potholes, has caused several major and minor accidents. “Scooters have often skidded and tripped due to the deep gorge-like dents on the road,” says R. Selvi, a resident of Bharath Nagar. The potholes are a threat to children studying in nearby schools.
The 120 Feet Road is part of this ward, which was earlier Kannanendal village panchayat. Many areas of the ward still lack proper roads and underground drainage system.
Aavin Nagar, G.R. Nagar, Thendral Nagar, Mahalakshmi Nagar and Surveyor Colony form the vast area of the ward. It stretches up to E.M. Gopalakrishna Kone Yadava Women’s College in Tiruppalai, according to an official in the engineering section of the Corporation.
There are 281 streets here. The population according 2011 Census is 12,858 and the number of houses stands at 2,572. The official says that the population has seen manifold growth over the years. More residents have moved into the stretch in recent years.
A major complaint in the area is lack of dumper bins. K. Maheshwari of Ayyanar Koil Street says that garbage collection is done only once or twice a week by sanitary workers. Residents resort to dumping waste on road corners or into the storm water drain that passes through the area.
The state of the storm water drain causes pain to K. Muthumani. He is a local laundry man and a resident of Selvi Nagar Second Cross Street. He says that many people indiscriminately dump waste into the drain. “Years of garbage and plastic dumping has blocked this drain. The stench wafts through the air on rainy days and stagnant water causes mosquito breeding,” he says. He urges the Corporation to clear the stretch with an earthmover. Conservancy workers should regularly fumigate the area to control the mosquito menace. According to R. Narayanasamy, a resident of Surveyor Colony, the ward used to have copious water supply throughout the year in the early 1990s. It is now hard to predict if the ward will continue to have water through the summer months,” he says.
Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar says that work has already started in the road sector of the ward. “We have already laid the wet mix and are waiting for it to settle. We will soon spread tar on 120 Feet Road,” he says. The Corporation is working on laying an underground drainage pipeline soon.
There is no Corporation school or library in the ward. “Most houses have toilets and so we will not be constructing any new Corporation toilets,” says an official.
