While the recent proposal of the Corporation to re-lay or repair 106 roads in the city has brought the much needed relief among residents, many are still concerned about the timing, as it has already started to rain.
The recent spate of rain has only added to the woes of residents. Apart from damage to roads caused by water stagnation in potholes, a host of concerns, including overflowing of open drains, has affected residents in many parts of the city.
In ward 95, which covers parts of Tirupparankundram and Pasumalai, residents have been facing incessant flooding and stagnation of sewage water every time there is a wet spell.
“Since the open drains run on either side of the street and are not too deep, there is an immediate overflow and stagnation on the road, which is a threat to our health and hygiene since we are forced to wade through it,” said L. Meenakshi, a resident.
It may be recalled that in July a similar issue was reported in ward 32, comprising Sourashtrapuram, Sadasiva Nagar and Lakshmi Nagar, where most of the houses had been discharging sewage into open drains on the road margins.
A resident said that despite the corporation workers regularly cleaning the drains and ensuring that there was no blockage, the problem was recurring and the drains were overflowing.
A corporation official said that while the problem was persistent in a few newly added areas which did not have underground drainage facility, they were doing their best by pumping out stagnant sewage. As is the case with a few newly added areas as well as old corporation wards, empty plots have become havens for breeding mosquitoes. A resident of the newly added area of Mahalakshmi Nagar S. Kannan, said that they had been facing constant health issues as many vacant plots which had overgrown ‘seemai karuvelam’ trees, thorny bushes and shrubs had become extremely unhygienic during the monsoon.
In Gomathipuram, which was also once a much-sought-after destination for construction of houses, a few plots lie abandoned.
“While we are able to prevent people from throwing garbage and keeping it clean, the owners do not respond to our pleas. We request them to build high walls and keep the plot free of shrubs. In many areas, persons have moved abroad after purchasing plots and this has resulted in us being the affected parties. The corporation is helpless since the abandoned plots are private properties,” a resident noted.
