While most services, including road connectivity, have improved in Alandur zone of the Chennai Corporation, one of the persistent complaints by residents is poor supply of Metrowater.
Chennai Metrowater Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) supplies drinking water to Alandur, Adambakkam and Nanganallur, once in 4 or 5 days, whereas the rest of the city is supplied with water on alternate days.
About four years ago, Metrowater had initiated work, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, on a pipeline system that would enable it to provide water to Nanganallur every day.
“The work was supposed to be completed by December 2011, but is yet to be completed. Metrowater should take the necessary steps without further delay,” says A. Vadivelu of Nanganallur.
The water table in and around Alandur, Nanganallur, Pazhavanthangal and Adambakkam is not high enough to face the upcoming summer, say residents. K.R. Srinivasan, a resident of Lakshmi Nagar in Nanganallur, says he spends around Rs. 3,000 per month on tanker water supply.
V. Rama Rao, secretary, Lakshmi Nagar Civic Welfare Association, Nanganallur, says, “We have repeatedly complained about the delay in water supply. Officials said, since construction of a water tank and laying of new pipelines is a big project, delays are to be expected. A delay of six months or even a year can be understood, but it is now more than two years since the deadline and the project is yet to be completed.”
With delay in water supply going up to seven days in certain areas, residents have set their hopes on the mega project.
“With the parliamentary elections around the corner, if the project gets delayed anymore, Election Commission’s rules will push the launch of the scheme even further. As 90 per cent of the work has been completed, the inauguration of the project before February 2014 will help residents of Nanganallur and neighbouring areas,” says Mr. Rama Rao.
Metrowater officials say the project is nearing completion. “Once it is over, water supply in Alandur zone will be as regular as in the city. The first phase of the project covers the areas of Nanganallur, B.V. Nagar and Pazhavanthangal, while the second phase covers Adambakkam and Alandur,” an official says.
