Citizen Connect: Annoyed residents protest over botched up drain construction

Talking to DTNext, P Lokesh, member of a group of activists who galvanised the crowd comprising residents and regular commutersfor the protest, said, “Pensioners Lane is a link road for anyone travelling around the area. After several complaints to authorities on the blocked drainage, we were happy that officials came forward to attend to the problem. However, after the repairs were carried out, the pipes under a stretch of dug up road have been left uncovered. 

As a result, commuters and pedestrians are having a tough time. Children taking the route to go to school and the elderly taking the route are unsafe. A few of them have hurt themselves after falling there.”

Afroze Ahmed, who has been following the drainage works for several years now, points out that the nearby ground, which is being used as a dump yard for the debris after the drainage work, is another problem. Ahmed had contacted several officials for years to get the drainage issue sorted. 

“They have dumped the dug-up soil on the ground which is being used by several residents nearby. It took us 150 complaints on [helpline] 1913 to get the drainage problem to be addressed. Now we wonder how long it will take for them to re-lay the road. We only ask for a road that is not dangerous for users,” he adds. 

Ahmed says that there are as many as 800 houses on the streets that are all linked to the lane. He adds that the residents decided to hold the protest as several attempts to get officials to act on the problem failed. 

Residents say that officials indicate that it will take a few months for the road to be relayed. Officials from Zone 6 of the Greater Chennai Corporation were not available for comments.