There is no let-up in the hardships faced by motorists and residents at Krishna Nagar and nearby streets (ward-7) falling under Maduravoyal third grade Municipality. After the havoc caused by monsoon last year, most of the streets are yet to relaid, but it seems road works may not be taken up for different reason now.     ‘Our Municipality chairman and Commissioner for Municipal Administration are in the process of reviewing the final cost estimate of Rs 38 crore for constructing sewer network at Maduravoyal for which the works are expected to begin by August 2007. Hence, relaying and black-topping of badly-affected roads will have to wait for some time,’ says P Ramesh Kanthan, Councillor (ward-7). The underground network for sewage will be part financed by a World Bank loan, grant from State government and public funds collected from each household. Along with the laying of sewer lines, tap connections by Metrowater will be taken up for which cost estimate is being prepared, he informs.
Flooding of colonies at Krishna Nagar, Ashtalakshmi Nagar, Rukmani Nagar and Bharathi Nagar during monsoon because of frequent breaching of Maduravoyal lake, near Alapakkam Main Road, has had debilitating effect on residents’ psyche for decades here. ‘Water stagnates for more than four months on the streets, inundating houses and throwing life out of normalcy. To put an end to all these woes, storm water drain (SWD) is being constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 99 lakh from Alapakkam Road to Cooum river on Poonamallee High Road at Maduravoyal which would reduce flooding of colonies,’ Kanthan explains.
Further, he says during rains there is no easy let out or follow thorough for the avalanche of floods that deluge the neighbourhood for months on end.
But in the short term, residents are hoping fervently that Bharathi Park which resembles a bird sanctuary with jungle growth and trees will be renovated without delay along with the raising of its surface which is below the road level. ‘Located at a lower surface, during rains the whole park is turned into a small lake for nearly six months. Welfare groups and myself have given letters to our chairman K Shanmugam and Municipality executive officer Gunasundari for raising the ground level of Bharathi Park by two feet. Once this is done, renovation will be taken up,’ Kanthan assures. Set up under a CMDA scheme at an estimate of Rs 5 lakh three years ago on a 5.5 ground, in spite of a wrecked look and wild bushes Bharathi Park has steady visitors across age groups in the evening.
In the last five years (2001-06), nearly 38 roads and streets have been relaid and black-topped due to sustained efforts of his wife Shobana Kanthan, the preceding Councillor (ward-7). ‘Out of the newly laid roads, only 3-5 are in good condition and the rest of them are in terrible shape with potholes and stones as they are victims of water gushing out from Maduravoyal lake during monsoon,’ explains Shobana. Giving a graphic account of the plight of families here, she says nearly 60 per cent of the houses get vacated and people are forced to move to safe places when floods inundate houses and stagnate for months before they recede. Also in the absence of underground sewer, the toilets overflow with human waste as septic tanks get filled with storm water.
There is not a single public health centre (PHC) or government hospital at Maduravoyal, though private clinics and hospitals cater to the affluent sections of the public. Hence, the poor depend on a PHC at Chinna Porur or the ESI hospital at K K Nagar for attending to their medical needs. In his 5-year tenure, Ramesh Kanthan has drawn up a list of projects to be accomplished at his ward: Installing sodium vapour lamps at street junctions; opening a ration shop; setting up an EB sub counter; and laying 10 cement roads at areas vulnerable to massive floods.
‘One of my plans is to construct a SWD from Krishna Nagar to Cooum on Poonamallee Road to drain out floods which affect life in a big way here,’ he says. Surely, hectic work is ahead of him.
