Rocky Roads and Water Woes Fuel Tharamani Residents' Roko

The absolute apathy that officials have been showing them all these years, has pushed them to step out on to the street and register their protest

CHENNAI:  Residents of V V Koil Nagar, Tharamani took to the roads on Monday along with the members of the Democratic Youth Foundation of India (DYFI) Chennai to stage their protest on civic issues rattling the community. Blocking traffic on the 100 feet road, they raised slogans demanding better roads, water and electricity for the residents who bemoan the hardships of living in an area which is also subject to rampant dust pollution along and untimely power outages. “These issues have been neglected by the area councillors for years, we will protest until the police arrests us,” said Haneefa, area secretary of Velachery for DYFI.

Their demands also included that the area councillor be removed due to long periods of neglect and no eye on the livelihood of the people. “We have never seen the councillor after the election, not even once,” says Sundari who has been residing in the area for over two decades. She woes of the dirty water that put her grandchild in the hospital, and the dust pollution which makes her carry her inhaler everywhere.

“The Tahsildar office is right here.” she points right across from her shanty little house, to the clean white building. While bike-riders and cyclists huff and sweat their way through the potholes, the whole stretch reeks of dirty stagnated water that puts people off the small breakfast joint put up by her neighbour Neela. “Even the drinking water we get for just two hours a day (6 am to 8 am) is filthy,” they say, pumping out water to show that there’s never more than a trickle. It is mild yellow in colour but the three houses crammed in the small corner have no other means for daily usage.

While resident’s complaints remain resolute, an official from Metro Water speaking to City Express claimed that no such complaint was brought to his notice. “The only complaints that were received today from what I inquired were about the roads. Our AE found has found no issues with the water in the area until now” he stated.

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