Potholes vanish

What: Residents of Ventakachalam Nagar, Velammal New Town, Kamalam Nagar and Masilamanieshwar Nagar in Thirumullavoyal came together to “repair” the pothole-ridden 1.5 km-Pachaiamman Koil Main Road that connects the Chennai – Tiruvallur High (CTH) Road with the northern parts of Thirumullavoyal adjoining Puzhal lake. For more than a year, they sent petitions to the authorities at Avadi Municipality, but in vain. The stretch was getting more accident-prone; children were getting injured. And then, residents decided to ‘take action’. They decided to fill the potholes with construction debris, and began to mobilise public support for the move. A month later, the executed the plan.

When: September 2016

How: A series of joint meetings were held in September last year. Subsequently, separate teams of residents were formed to divide the work involving “repairing” the stretch. One team had to take care of sourcing construction debris to level the stretch; another team had to ensure adequate tipper lorries to transport the debris; a third team was given the charge of regulating traffic on the day (Sunday). On that day, around 80 residents were involved in the work.

Lesson Learnt: Find common cause with residents of adjoining areas. When an issue is represented by more people, the chances of it getting wider attention are high.