Two months on, Semmozhi Poonga’s broken wall remains unbuilt

To prevent the tipplers from entering the park, the park management had put a temporary barrier of dry foliage. However, this is specked with plastic garbage bags, discarded from nearby houses. The electricity junction box lies open, with exposed wires, alarmingly close to the dry foliage. A swarm of flies’ buzz around the mound, even as conservancy workers struggle to remove the trash from the ‘wall’.

Following a spell of rain, the dilapidated wall collapsed in the early hours of November 28, damaging two cars parked on the road.

Suresh, a mechanic who runs a puncture shop at the corner of the street said that the makeshift foliage mound has created a bottle neck in the already narrow road, used frequently by motorists. “Before they put the wall, tipplers used to sneak in at night and cause nuisance. The condition of the remaining walls too is questionable, and they look as though they can break anytime. If so, they could fall on the adjacent electricity poles. We hope that the government builds the wall, including the remaining stretch, before it leads to untoward incidents,” he said.

Bala, an IT student living in the Police quarters nearby, said that vehicles find it difficult to navigate the road. “I have seen some motorists falling off their bikes,” he said.

When contacted, a senior official in charge of the park, said, “We had put up a barrier of foliage to keep tipplers away. We are planning to replace not only the portion of the wall that has collapsed, but also the remaining 80 meters, which is not in a good condition. The delay has been due to conducing studies on the condition of the wall. Work orders are expected soon, and the construction will begin.”