Barely seven kilometres from the city’s power centre in Fort St. George, the now high-profile Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency, struggles with major civic infrastructure inadequacies, congestion, pollution and extortion reportedly by powerful politicians.
The Hindu spoke to a cross-section of residents in the area on Wednesday, only to be told that nothing has changed in the constituency since the last Assembly elections in 2011.
“We don’t get clean drinking water. Look at the froth in that,” said S. Flora, a long-time resident of V.O.C. Nagar, pointing to the murky water pumped out of a Metrowater tank in her lane. The water, with an unmistakable stench of sewage, has been a major cause for concern for residents.
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With a series of complaints failing to get the desired response, A. Shanti decided to buy water cans for her family’s cooking and drinking water needs. “We spend Rs. 120 a day just on water,” said Ms. Shanti, whose husband, like many in the area, is engaged in daily wage labour.
For long, the working class hub of the city, with several heritage sites, north Chennai and R.K. Nagar in particular has a sizeable number of daily wage earning labourers and fisherfolk in its electorate.
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The constituency has remained an AIADMK stronghold since 2001 with P.K. Sekar Babu being elected MLA two successive terms before he crossed over to the DMK. On May 17, AIADMK MLA P. Vetrivel resigned from the post making way for his leader Ms. Jayalalithaa to contest from a constituency in Chennai for the first time. The legal directive mandates her election within six months after she assumes charge as Chief Minister.
With opposition parties deciding to boycott the by-election, scheduled for June 27, the game may have just got easier for the Chief Minister.
To start with, R.K. Nagar is among the smaller constituencies in Chennai with about 2.5 lakh voters, with more women voters. Given the support Ms. Jayalalithaa and the AIADMK traditionally had from women and fisherfolk, the constituency was an obvious choice for such a by-election, marking their leader’s political comeback, say party sources. The seat also has a substantial Dalit votebank, estimated to be about 15 per cent of the total voters.
Ms. Jayalalithaa contesting from the place may have raised the profile of the constituency, but residents remain sceptical about the changes this may entail.
“It is good if Amma contests from here, but I doubt if anything will change. If she decides to come to our area for a day’s campaign, our roads may be set right, streets will be sparkling clean. One day later, the area will come back to its pathetic self,” said K. Shanti, a middle-aged woman.
Extortion by powerful politicians is a problem faced by many in this area, according to residents who said political party functionaries demanded huge sums of money at construction sites, often derailing projects.
About 60 homes under construction on Senaiamman Street in Tondiarpet has not seen the light of day as a ruling party functionary has demanded “payment” for the project to take off, said K. Sankar, president of the owners’ association. Members have given written complaints to government departments, police and the Chief Minister’s cell but have got no respite yet.
Residents complained of garbage strewn on roads for days together due to weak conservancy and of worsening mosquito menace in the area. Also, R.K. Nagar and the adjoining Royapuram, Perambur, Thiru.Vi. Ka. Nagar and Tiruvottiyur areas have some of the city’s busiest roads, causing massive traffic congestion every day.
“Our roads are in bad shape, there are no speed breakers or street lights. We have not got clean drinking water in a long time,” said L. Gunasekaran, a fisher leader in Poongavanam Kuppam. Fisherfolk were already finding it hard to cope with falling tuna fish prices. The rising costs and lack of any improvement in the area made life an everyday struggle, he said.
In essence, the R.K. Nagar constituency presents a pathetic sight as its residents are far from being part of development and experience that a metropolis can offer.