Chennai: With less than three weeks to go for the assembly polls, Tambaram residents are now demanding aspiring MLA candidates to address the civic woes in the locality.
Voters, who were badly hit by the recent December floods, have called for a poll manifesto and assurance from those seeking votes. Residents from interior areas of East Tambaram have decided to boycott the elections saying that they cannot be cheated by ‘unkept promises’.
“Our pleas to obtain flood compensation were ignored. Why would we vote for them now,” questioned R. Sumathi of V.V.K Street, East Tambaram. More than 20 per cent of the locality is yet to receive the compensation, said an official from Tambaram Revenue department.
Availing civic amenities is an element of struggle for the residents of Tambaram. “We fought for 15 years to construct weirs to Sembakkam lake And now, we are fighting to get underground drainage system (UGD), which was to complete seven years back,” said M. Ravi, secretary of Sarvamangala Nagar Welfare association.
“UGD works in all the 39 wards of Tambaram constituency remains abandoned even after several complaints to the civic body,” secretary of IOB Colony Welfare association, Meenakshi Sundaram.
Despite witnessing rapid developments in terms of transport, tourism and realty, health sector has taken a backseat in the constituency. “Absence of a government hospital in the constituency makes the residents rely on either the overcrowded Chrompet GH or the far-off Chengalpet GH to obtain medical ser-vices,” added Sunda-ram.
Many interior roads including the Sembakkam-Chitlapakkam Main road, Sudarshan Nagar and Prashanthi Colony are victims of poor civic functioning. With bumps and pits all over, collisions and traffic congestion have become the new normal. “Road gains height every time after re-laying. It is a disheartening sight to see the roads rising the height above the residences,” said Sunil Jayaraman, a social activist.
Once a lifeline for the agriculturalists, Chitlapakkam Lake, which is next to the dump yard, suffers pollution. Sharp calls of activists to desilt and clear the water body off the sewage water received no response. “Ground water drastically went down in the locality as Pallava-ram Municipality draws water despite Kancheepuram collectorate objection,” added Ravi.
Palar is the main source of drinking water for the residents and the absence of a check dam at Palar leads to irregular water supply. “Water crisis will be met only if the locality is included in the metro water scheme,” said L. Sundaraman, president of Muthulakshmi Nagar welfare association.
