Kovilpatti
Torn among three panchayats, residents of Suba Nagar, which has a number of civic problems, have a hard time fixing accountability.
Besides having no drinking water connection and bad roads, the administrative tangle adds to their woes.
Some 150 of the 500 households in the area come under the Ayyaneri panchayat and a similar number of houses come under the Appaneri panchayat. Around 30 others fall under the Maniyachi panchayat.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the residents vote in the Tenkasi constituency, while in the Assembly elections, they vote a Sankarankovil candidate — both in Tirunelveli district. All this, while the area was brought into the Kovilpatti taluk more than five years ago from Sankarankovil taluk after repeated demands by residents.
Without a drinking water connection, the residents rely on private vendors. Valasai Kanagaraj, president of Suba Nagar New Town Residents’ Association, says that the problem can be fixed quite easily. “There’s an existing line at Pudur near Puthu Appaneri, which needs to be extended only a few hundred metres to solve the problem,” he says.
Moreover, there are a number of other problems. “Residents under all three panchayats have to go nearly 3-5 kms for the nearest ration shop,” said Mr. Kanagaraj. “There’s no burial ground or community hall in the area either.”
Another major grouse is that the residents have to go as far as 40 km to Kalingapatti to get new electricity connection or for paying bills. “There are around 10 new houses coming up every month in the area, and it becomes a hassle.”
“The Suba Nagar road, which is 60ft wide, is also in a bad condition,” says Mr. Kanagaraj. “The panchayats say that there’s funds crunch. Without local body elections, it has been difficult to raise our demands.”
Mr. Kanagaraj says that there’s no police patrol in the area, and so the association has a neighbourhood watch with at least 15 people participating every night. “The initiative has helped bring down crimes in the area to a great extent over the last five years. However, a police patrol is necessary,” he says.
S. Kumar, secretary of another residents’ association in the area, says that there are no lights in a kilometre-long stretch between the new bus stand and Raga Agriculture College. “Women feel unsafe at night because of this,” he says.
