Pollution is something that residents of Ward 18 have gotten used to. As these localities are close to north Chennai’s industrial hub, the groundwater has been contaminated due to years of pollutants being let into water bodies.
“Since our area does not have piped water supply, we spend about Rs. 1, 200 a month on private water suppliers for drinking and cooking purposes. For the rest, we use water from a shallow bore. Despite not supplying water, the Metrowater collects water tax from us,” rued J. Mallika, a resident of Ekambaram Street.
The ward does not have proper drainage network and sewage is let into closed drains which again flows into Puzhal surplus course. “This causes a problem during the monsoon season. Sewage and rainwater stagnate everywhere. In some localities, the streets are at a lower level than the main roads which have stormwater drains. We are worried about health issues,” said S. Kumada, another resident.
The frequency of bus services is also another issue worrying the residents even though the bus terminus is adjacent to the ward, which comes under Tiruvallur district. “I sometimes call Manali an island. We have close to 30,000 people residing here but the transport connectivity is so poor. We have no choice other than banking on private transport,” said Radhakrishnan, who commutes to Koyambedu for work.
Many residents also complained of erratic power supply. “Recently, a goat that strayed too close to a street lamp suffered an electric shock. Then we had to turn off power supply to the entire area to rectify the fault. Low voltage is not uncommon too. The authorities do not bother to set right our issues since we are in the city’s fringes,” complained V. Mukundan, a long-time resident.
In response, DMK Councillor D. Durai said he had installed small water tanks wherever piped supply was not available. “We keep the area as clean as possible. We are working on a project to replace old water pipelines and tenders have been called to construct sewer lines,” he said. Desilting has been carried out to ensure that roads are not flooded, he added.
To improve connectivity, Mr. Durai said he has been asking for a bypass to the Inner Ring Road through Kamaraj Salai, the area behind MFL then through the area behind SRF. “This would cut short travel time to Tiruvottiyur,” he said.
