The poor condition of pothole-ridden interior roads has become a cause for concern among residents of Lawspet, where commuting has become difficult.
The condition of roads in Kurunji Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Avvai Nagar, Kumaran Nagar and Kannamma Nagar has gone from bad to worse after the recent rain. Even pedestrians find it challenging to walk at night.
“The roads have not been repaired for five years. Their condition continues to remain the same. Driving two-wheelers or even walking at night has become extremely difficult with the street lights not functioning,” said R. Ramesh, a resident of Kurunji Nagar. The road towards the planetarium has been completely damaged, he said, and added that people find it difficult to drive.
“Just a few days of rain is causing us misery as the roads are broken. We don’t know what will happen after the monsoon sets in. The uneven surfaces around the manholes pose a great danger to motorists as well as to pedestrians because they are submerged when the road is water-logged,” said R. Praveen, another resident.
For senior citizens, Mr. Praveen, said riding a two-wheeler will only add more physical stress-related health problems due to the uneven roads.
According to Vidhya Ravi of Thillai Kannamma Nagar, this has been the state of affairs for 12 years now.
“We are faced with lack of motorable roads. Senior citizens are finding it difficult to even walk. Walking on the streets itself has become an arduous task,” she charged.
Lack of funds
M. Govindaraj, a resident and senior Congress functionary, said enquiries with municipal authorities revealed that shortage of funds was the main reason for not taking up repair work in the last five years.
The repair and construction of interior roads used to be done utilising constituency development funds of MLAs.
“These funds have not been released for the last four years,” Mr. Govindaraj added.