Residents of Ambattur have planned an agitation for Sunday to press their demands, including uninterrupted power supply with underground cables, better bus connectivity and extention of Metro Rail.
The locality has been brought under the purview of the Greater Chennai Corporation.
Various citizen groups are likely to join the agitation. Residents complained that traffic jams had become common on the Chennai Tiruvallur High Road (C.T.H. Road) that connects several localities. However, the proposal to widen the stretch between Padi and Thiruninravur, which was mooted two decades ago, has not been implemented.
S. Suresh, president, United Welfare Associations, Ambattur, said the proposal to widen C.T.H. Road should be revived as motorists spent long hours in traffic. A government hospital in the locality was essential as people otherwise had to travel to Kilpauk for treatment.
“We have made several representations to arrive at property tax based on street rate and remove anomalies in the existing system. The property tax must be rationalised based on the guideline value of the street. Residents pay double the tax amount that was more than their land value,” he said.
Residents sought better infrastructure in government schools and those run by the Corporation. They want the flyover across the railway track near TI Cycles to be widened and an underpass to be constructed at railway station.
E.N. Sudharsanam, president, Ooruni Maiyam, a citizens’ association in Ambattur, said the service lanes of Chennai Bypass near Kallikuppam and Menambedu should be connected to decongest traffic on C.T.H. Road.
“We have been fighting to get the Ambattur railway station spruced up. We have given petitions seeking that all express trains should halt at Ambattur as commuters had to alight at Perambur or Central Railway Station,” he said. After a long battle, Saptagiri Express, running between Chennai and Tirupati, halts at the station.
