Residents of Pallavaram, Chrompet and the surrounding areas, all this while, were used to running from pillar to post to get their civic issues resolved. At times, their efforts have also been wasted with officials staying deaf to pleas or playing blame game to buy time. There were also instances when issues continued for years, the best example being the traffic problem on GST Road near Pallavaram Friday market which is haunting motorists for over three years now.
But, in a surprising move, following the efforts of Federation of Civic and Welfare Associations of Pallavaram, two major civic problems in the neighbourhood have been sorted out not in a day or two but just in a night’s time thanks to workers toiling even till mid-night. The federation has thanked Pallavaram Municipality for the efforts undertaken on a war footing.
Speaking to News Today, Federation of Civic and Welfare Associations of Pallavaram vice-president M Sreedhar, who was instrumental in getting this done, said, “The first issue pertains to the massive drainage block in front of Indian Coffee Shop in RP Road. The spot falls under ward 36. The block, which cropped up on 2 February, turned out to be menace as days passed by. There was sewage discharge from the pit which filled the road and its sides leading to pedestrians facing a lot of hassles. Needless to say about the mosquito problems which raised out the condition.”
“This aside, there was another major drainage block in front of Naveen Flats in Nallappa Street in the same ward. The entire underground sewage pit was filled to the brim with semi-solid waste with all the problems associated with it which were mentioned earlier present irking the residents. But, unlike in many other cases, the moment we complained to the Municipality, workers under the leadership of supervisor Tamilmani rushed to the spot on 18 February and cleared the blocks working throughout the night. In fact, the work got completed at a very late 1.30 am. We thank all the Municipality staff and contract workers who made this possible,” he added.
Explaining about a couple of other problems that need Municipality’s attention, Sreedhar, said, “The first one is the damaged manhole at N S R Road (Kumaran Kundram Road) which comes under ward 33. The problem is existing for more than a month now. The manhole cap is distorted and is posing as a danger for motorists who might lose control when driven over it. We request officials to look into this and sort it out as soon as possible. Secondly, we want better solid waste management at the said wards. Timely collection and cleaning is the need of the hour.”