More than a decade has passed since several panchayats and municipalities on the southern fringes of the city merged with the Chennai Corporation. When the civic body was expanded in 2011, residents hoped for improved infrastructure as they had suffered from poor roads and absence of underground drainage, piped water supply, and storm water drains
The panchayats and municipalities, with poor finances, found it difficult to create the civic infrastructure, despite the growing prominence of localities such as Madipakkam, Nanganallur, Palavanthangal, Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam, Pallikaranai, Perungudi, and Thoraipakkam.
Except for the Alandur municipality, which had executed the underground drainage at that time, the other civic bodies did not have proper amenities. Even in the localities under the Alandur municipality, comprising Nanganallur, Alandur, Palavanthangal, and Vanuvampet, roads were poor because of the prolonged delay in the underground drainage construction and the linking of the houses to the network.
Immediate relief
Residents point out that the merger with the Chennai Corporation and the expansion of the residential localities have helped at least with regard to roads. At Nanganallur and Palavanthangal, where the roads were bad on several streets because they were dug up for the underground drainage, the city expansion came as an immediate relief as the civic body laid new grid roads under the Mega City project at a cost of ₹25 crore.
A retired official of the civic body says new grid roads were laid on streets where the residents had not seen paved roads for decades at B.B. Colony, SBI Colony, Voltas Colony, Hindu Colony, and Lakshmi Nagar. The ₹400 crore allocated by the State government for improving the roads in the expanded areas helped in paving 360 interior roads at Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Perungudi, and Sholinganallur.
In fact, the grid roads, which were paved more than a decade ago, are good even today. The residents and social activists of Nanganallur appreciate the laying of the grid roads. But they complain about traffic congestion, encroachments on roads, and poor public transport, and stress the need for a storm water drain to prevent flooding.
‘Flooding minimal’
Social activist V. Rama Rao says that during Cyclone Michaung, the flooding was minimal in the locality, compared with the 2015 floods. However, the storm water drains must be installed on Lakshmi Nagar 19th Street, 21st Street and 41st Street as water stagnation persists there.
The main problem faced by the Nanganallur residents is the poor bus services. The railway station is nearby, at Palavanthangal, and the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is a few kilometres away, at Velachery. Mr. Rama Rao says the residents need mini-bus services, which have been halted, and the speeding up of the MRTS extension to St. Thomas Mount. He also wants the Corporation to expedite land acquisition for expanding and linking the Palavanthangal subway with Nanganallur 5th Main Road through Balu Street.
Traffic re-routed
For years, the Nanganallur residents have been demanding the widening of the narrow road linking the 5th Main Road with the subway, which leads to the GST Road. The absence of a wide road from the subway has resulted in the traffic proceeding from GST Road being routed through the narrow Vembuli Amman Koil Street to be linked to the wider 4th Main Road and the traffic from Nanganallur being routed through College Road and Balu Street to the subway. S. Raghavan, a resident of Palavanthangal, says the extension of the southern arm of Inner Ring Road has opened a link between Nanganallur and Velachery. The limited operation of Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses and the absence of share-autorickshaws have made the stretch useful only to those having private vehicles.
Unlike the residents of Nanganallur and Palavanthangal, the residents of Pallikaranai, Sunambu Kolathur, Perungudi and Kottivakkam, which were merged with the Alandur municipality, point to the failure to restore the interior roads. These roads were paved under the Mega City project. They are in a shambles as they were dug up for the underground drainage as well as the storm water drain.
Road restoration in progress
A senior official of the Chennai Corporation said that in the Alandur zone, except for areas which were under the Alandur municipality, all other localities at Manapakkam, Mugalivakkam, and Nandambakkam are being provided with the underground drainage. Almost 80% of the project has been completed; road restoration is in progress. The areas of Nanganallur, Alandur, Palavanthangal, and Vanuvampet have been paved with grid roads. They have to be repaved on account of the wear and tear. The storm water drain network is being built in the city in three packages: M1, M2, M3. The main issue for Nanganallur, Palavanthangal, and Alandur is water stagnation. Here, the storm water drain is being built under M1. The relaying of the roads and the drain network in Nanganallur, located in Division 167, and the remaining parts in Division 168, have mostly been completed, the official said. He said that of the total of 1,720 roads in the Alandur zone, 773 were identified for restoration. The work on 609 of them has been completed, and is in progress on 49. The remaining 115 roads will be repaved in this financial year.
