Residents of Adayalampattu near Nolambur want their area to be merged with the Greater Chennai Corporation in the hope of getting infrastructure on a par with other parts of the city.
This fast developing locality is surrounded by Thiruverkadu municipality, the Cooum and borders Corporation areas such as Nolambur. However, residents said their locality, with several gated communities and many educational institutions, continued to lack basic infrastructure such as roads and safe drinking water supply.
V. Purushothaman, secretary of Federation of Adayalampattu Residents’ Welfare Association, said Bypass runs between the locality and others such as Nolambur and Mogappair West that are part of the Corporation.
“We do not get proper water supply or have roads, streetlights and underground drainage. We have represented to various government agencies and written to the Chief Minister to merge the locality with the Corporation to get better infrastructure,” he said.
M. Natarajan, KG Signature City Residents’ Welfare Association, said there was a stark difference in the areas falling under the panchayat and the Corporation even in the maintenance of streetlights. “We spend ₹4.5 lakh to buy water from private tankers every month and do not have a garbage collection system or a dumpyard. We pay property tax and yet do not have adequate amenities,” he said.
The village panchayat had passed a resolution at a gram sabha held in November last year to merge the area, which has a population of 9,000, with the Corporation.
On the residents’ demands, Adayalampattu village panchayat president A.S. Selvi Saravanan said it was a small village panchayat with limited funds that could not cater to the fast-urbanising area. “We have not been getting sufficient funds from the government to carry out work like laying new roads. We do provide water supply from overhead tanks to the village. But our sources are limited,” she said. She said she had to pass the resolution as ward members and residents demanded the area to be added to the Corporation.
Maduravoyal MLA Karambakkam K. Ganapathy said steps had been taken to merge three panchayats of Vanagaram, Adayalampattu and Ayapakkam with the Corporation by next local body elections. “Several representations were made about merger of the locality. We could have merged the areas during the recent elections. But polls in these panchayats were already over,” he said.
