With residents of Ward 179 East in Velachery having been heading to neighbourhoods under other Wards for essential items they are entitled to under the Public Distribution System (PDS). The Federation of Velachery Residents’ Welfare Associations recently apprised J. Jayavardhan, South Chennai MP, about the issue, following which there has been a move to create two PDS outlets in Ward 179 East.
Jayavardhan says that approximately an amount of ₹34 lakh will be allocated under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme for construction of these two PDS outlets in this section. The job of identifying land for PDS outlets and their construction has been assigned to the Greater Chennai Corporation, says the MP.
The PDS outlets are likely to come up at the Corporation land in Muthu Krishnan Street, Bhuvaneshwari Nagar and in Bharathi Street, Annai Indra Nagar.
Here is a break-up of neighbourhoods in Ward 179 East whose residents have to go to PDS outlets in other Wards. Residents of Annai Indra Nagar, TANSI Nagar, Venus Colony and Balakrishna Nagar have been going to the PDS outlet at 10th Cross Street in Dhandeeshwaram Nagar which is part of Ward 179 West. Similarly, residents of Udhayam Nagar, Baby Nagar, Seshadripuram and Ramagiri Nagar go to the PDS outlet at Gandhi Salai which is also part of Ward 179 West.
And then, residents of Sarathy Nagar, Bhuvaneshwari Nagar and VGP Selva Nagar go to the PDS outlet at Vijaya Nagar which comes under Ward 178.
S. Kumara Raja, vice-president, Velachery Annai Indira Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, says the aforementioned localities of Ward 179 East account for around 3,000 card-holders, but they are all tagged to PDS outlets that are noticeably far from their neighbourhoods.
“We have to cross the Velachery-Taramani Link Road to access those PDS outlets. It is an arterial road that witnesses heavy traffic and is quite difficult to cross. Besides, some of us end up spending towards autorickshaw fares to get to the PDS outlets,” says Shanmugham, president, Venus Colony Residents Welfare Association.
There are two ration shops at 10th Cross Street in Dhandeeshwaram Nagar, but only one of them is dedicated to PDS card-holding residents of Dhandeeshwaram Nagar. And the other is meant for cardholders of Ward 179 East. Therefore, a sizeable number of Dhandeeshwaram Nagar residents is attached to the PDS outlet at Brahmin Street (Ward 178).
“Had there been a PDS outlet at Ward 179 East, we could have used the one which is in our locality. Now, we have to cross Velachery Main Road to access the PDS outlet,” says K. Dorai Raj, committee member, Dhandeeshwaram Nagar Residents Welfare Association.
