CHENNAI : Civic bodies remove obstructions in the path of water channels to ensure better flow of water. However, the Pallavaram Municipality is building a road on a stretch of a canal in Chrompet, much to the woe of the residents.
In April, around 12 families living along a canal passing through Shanti Nagar were evicted by the Public Works Department (PWD). But the rubbles of the demolished homes remained untouched.
When municipal workers began sifting the rubble on Friday, the residents of Kattabomman Street, Velayutham Street and Ammani Ammal Street were overjoyed. However, their happiness was short-lived. “The municipal workers brought a road roller to level the rubble into a road,” said V Ramanujam, a resident of Kattabomman Street, explaining that the overflowing canal was the reason behind the entire area sinking under three feet of water during monsoon.
When Express visited the spot on Saturday, it found that this road which is being built has encroached upon the canal more than the families that had lived along it. The road has shrunk the 15-feet-wide canal to two feet. When contacted regarding the issue, the Pallavaram Municipality was quick to distance itself from the issue. “We have received complaints about the road coming up and we will direct the Town Planning Department to look into it. We aren’t involved in it,” said municipal engineer Karuppiah Raju.
However, the municipality’s solid waste management lorry has been caught transporting plant and metal waste from the site before the road roller was brought in. The PWD, under whose jurisdiction the canal comes, has also blamed the municipality for building a road on a stretch of a canal. “We will definitely take the Pallavaram Municipality to task for building a road on our canal,” said a senior official in the PWD, adding that the PWD under no circumstance will allow blockage of a water channel by a road.
Why is building this road worth flouting norms?
The road, which is being built on the canal, connects Kattabomman Street and Shanti Nagar 2nd Main Road. Locals said that this road will open up a major portion of residential Chromepet to big shopping complexes on the GST Road. For example, residents of Radha Nagar, which is on the other end of Kattabomman Street, will have to either use the Radha Nagar Main Road or go to the MIT bridge to access the shopping centres on GST Road.
This is a travel distance of around two kilometres. However, the road being built by the Pallavaram Municipality will reduce travel distance to 250 metres. “There is definitely a lobby behind this road which is coming up on the canal,” said Ramanujam, an advocate, adding he will be filing a writ petition if the municipality doesn’t rectify its encroachment on the canal. “The civic body is there to make our lives better, not worse,” he said.