Citizen Connect: Official apathy continues to torment Kanmalai Nagar residents sans SWD

The residents of Kanmalai Nagar in Perungalathur are irked over the inaction of the local bodyin taking measures tomitigate the flooded streets in the locality resultingin many localsfalling sick.

Perungalathur is known to be one of the fastest developing areas in the suburbs of Chennai. The panchayat consists of 15 wards with nearly 20, 000 people. However, the residents in Kanmalai Nagar claimed that the panchayat was not functioning properly inPerungalathur.

The residents complained that the rain water was not cleared from the streets and as a result the streets remain water-clogged for more than a month. The residents also alleged that there was no stormwater drainage in their locality and despite providing so many petitions so far to the panchayat for constructing a stormwater drain (SWD), no action has been taken. The residents alleged that the officials were not concerned about the locals and were not looking into theirpetition.

A resident of the locality, Senthil David said that even though they have requested the panchayat many times to look into the issue, no proper response was received. "Every day our children have to walk in the water to go to school. They could not even wear shoes since the streets are flooded,” he said. He also said that the children are getting punished at the school for not wearing shoes and added that they are clueless as to whom they should blame for their circumstances.

The residents also claimed that most of the people were affected by viral fever and other diseases as they were forced to walk in the water-logged roads for nearly a month. Since there was no stormwater drain even during summer, the streets get filled with drainage from the houses, locals claimed.

When contacted the Perungalathur Executive Officer L Ravi Kumar, he said that he was not aware that Kanmalai Nagar comes under his jurisdiction and said that they would look into the issue and take necessary steps to develop the area.