The reservoir in Red Hills, which is popularly known as Puzhal lake and a major waterbody catering to the city's needs, will now be part of the expanded Chennai Corporation's Madhavaram Zone.
Residents of Zone III, which has a large number of waterbodies including Retteri and Madhavaram lakes, have been clamouring for restoration of the lakes' that have been encroached upon and lack maintenance.
Urbanisation
The topography of the once serene Madhavaram with numerous mango groves is undergoing a tremendous change due to rapid urbanisation and increase in vehicular traffic. Spread across 33.46 sq.km., the zone comprises 12 wards carved out of Madhavaram Municipality, five town and village panchayats and has a voter base of 1.27 lakh. It is almost synonymous with milk owing to the presence of Aavin's dairy.
Like many other areas in the city's fringes, Madhavaram zone too has its own quota of woes waiting to be addressed after the local body elections. Ironically, several residential areas of the zone that is dotted with many waterbodies do not have proper drinking water supply. The slow progress of water supply and underground drainage projects in Madhavaram came for sharp criticism from residents, who said that the undue delay in completing the projects also affected road laying projects.
Shanthi Ravi, a resident of Kilburn Nagar, said that only one-third of mango groves exist now as they have been replaced by residential colonies. “Our area is often choked with traffic as lorries that do not find space in the truck terminal are parked along the Grand Northern Trunk Road,” she said.
“Traffic congestion in our area has only worsened due to bad roads… many roads including those leading out of Madhavaram are cut and not relaid leading to traffic slowing down. Construction of the flyover at Moolakadai will help traffic flow only at that junction,” said K.V.Balasubramanian of K.K.R.Town.
Garbage
Burning of garbage at Kilburn Nagar dumping yard and poor solid waste management are also major issues awaiting solutions. Residents said the area lacked a fire station, had no government hospital and in case of emergencies they had to go to Perambur. “When there is a fire, tenders are called from Vyasarpadi, nearly 5 km away,” said V.Krishnakumari, a resident of V.R.D. Nagar.
The move to merge the town and village panchayats, including Puzhal, Puthagaram, Kadirvedu and Surapet, has delighted residents who have endured battered roads, inundation, lack of illumination and erratic water supply for several decades now.
The Chennai Bypass between Madhavaram and Tambaram has proved advantageous for many panchayats. There are still some areas that carry the remnants of village milieu as goats and cows are reared. G.Selvam, treasurer of Residents' Welfare Associations Around Teachers' Colony, said the bus terminus in the area had not been improved as bidders did not come forward to take up work. “If the Cuddapah Road, linking Madhavaram and Ambattur is widened, it would help motorists avoid taking a circuitous route via IRR and Chennai Tiruvallur High Road,” he said.
K.Nandakumar of Kadirvedu said though inclusion in city would mean paying more taxes, people were eager as their civic problems would get attention. “We hope the quality of roads would improve as the funding pattern of Corporation would be different from that of a village panchayat,” he said.
Elected representatives are also looking forward to be part of the new Corporation as they would have more powers. S. Sudarsanam, vice-chairman of Madhavaram municipality, said that the local body would escape the financial crunch after the expansion. Saral Paulraj, an independent councillor of Madhavaram, said the quality of work would improve as the Corporation would have more funds.
