VELLORE: Residents of Jinnu Mudaliar 1st street at Vidhachipuram here have endured 15 years of misery due to a lack of adequate roads and drainage systems.
Out of the six streets close by, only Jinnu Mudaliar 1st street is awaiting canal restoration and road improvements. Residents said that the delay could have been caused due to confusion caused by the namesake Jinnu Mudaliar 2nd street. The contractor who was supposed to mend the first street got confused with the existing street and repaired the latter, leaving the former untouched.
"Our street lacks enough facilities to maintain the roads and canals. As a result, during the rainy season, there's water stagnation on the roads. We are also unable to dine inside our houses owing to the foul smell from the canal," said Karthik, a resident. Locals there claim that despite repeated complaints to the district collector's office and the municipal corporation, nothing has been done.
The elderly are unable to walk safely at night due to the absent road infrastructure, "Many insects, including earthworms, mosquitoes, frogs, water snakes, and beetles, can be found in our neighbourhood due to the recent rains," said Akash, another resident.
Corporation Commissioner P Ashok Kumar told TNIE, "I will let the corporation assistant engineer check the street."