CBI Colony suffers bad roads

CHENNAI:  Getting left behind by development is one thing. Getting left behind because of development is another thing altogether. That’s what has happened to the residents of three streets of CBI Colony in Perungudi. A project to lay underground drainage pipelines has left the roads in a state of lunar undulation, as a result of which the residents are being denied even the most basic amenities.“The pipelines were laid over a year back, but the connections have not been given. What’s worse, because of the terrible state of the roads, garbage collection trucks, water tankers and sewage collection lorries refuse to come into these streets,” says MA Srikanth, a local resident.A huge pile of garbage, neatly packed in plastic covers, stands stacked against the wall in his apartment complex. “The garbage van comes till there,” says Srikanth, pointing to a turn in the road less than 100 metres away. But then, they turn back and leave, leaving garbage uncollected from 3rd, 6th and 7th Cross Streets.The area also does not have drinking water pipelines, and the groundwater is hard, meaning the residents have to rely on water from private tanker lorries. They too refuse to ply their tankers on these streets out of fear of damaging their suspension. A similar fate awaits the trucks that come to clear their sceptic tanks in the absence of underground drainage.If all this was not bad enough the unmetalled, clay-topped ‘roads’ prove to be a nightmare for the residents, leaving no dearth of fallen walkers or motorists. “Rain or no rain, the terrible state of our street has been terrible for my car. I have spent so much money repairing it over and over again. The mud flaps and bumper have been replaced so many times, I have now given up,” says Dr Dhavapalani.While the residents have been suffering this sorry plight since October 2010, they say that officials of the Perungudi Panchayat routinely tell them that their problems will probably be dealt with by the Chennai Corporation. But the residents remain in a state of constant suspension of amenities, since they are unable to get services, even if they are prepared to pay for them. For now, they say they are preparing to meet their councillor V Amudha and their MLA KP Kandan to find a way out of the logjam.