CHENNAI: Residents of Pananjalai Kanmalai Nagar and Gundumedu in the west end of Perungalathur have been suffering without basic amenities for several years now. More than 500 houses here lack drinking water and stormwater drain (SWD) facilities, and they also have to walk or take an autorickshaw for 2 km to reach the nearest bus stop.
Though all the houses in Kanmalai Nagar have patta and residents pay taxes, basic amenities have been hard to come by. “We gave several petitions. Even when SWD works were carried out in a nearby locality, we approached officials to include our area also. However, officials said ours is a low-lying area and they would do it later. Only two out of the nine streets in Kanmalai Nagar and Gundumedu have a common drinking water tap while none of the houses have individual connections,” said P Shanmuganathan, a social activist.
Residents in Gundumedu said they were allotted the land in the late 1990s when Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu was the Collector of Kancheepuram. “Even during local body elections, many of the representatives don’t even visit the locality. The Periya Eri nearby has been encroached upon heavily. As candidates are heavily dependent on the votes of those encroaching the lakes, they have been given basic facilities but politicians are not ready to take up our cause,” said M Senthil Kumar of Gundumedu.
Many residents of Gundumedu depend on daily wages. While a small bus (S90) was operated from Tambaram to Gundumedu in 2017, it was stopped two years ago. “There were two services initially but got reduced to one. Then, it completely stopped. We are not able to spend money on autorickshaws or walk 2 km to reach the nearest bus stop,” said S Mohan, who was levelling the road with debris to stop water stagnation. While there are damaged cement roads in a few streets, the mud roads on the rest of them turn slushy even after a small rain, he added.
There are no public health centres in the locality as well with even pregnant women dependent on the angawadis, where nurses come once or twice. “As there are no buses, we walk to the health facility in Peekankaranai which is 2.5 km away. I usually walk 2 km to the bus stop and take a bus to Chromepet GH,” said 70-year-old P Nagammal.Meanwhile, Tambaram Corporation officials said that they are in the process of inspecting such areas and action would be taken soon to provide basic facilities.