The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Reader's Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 07, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Reader's Mail

Not getting piped water

In these days of plentiful water supply to almost all the areas in the city, sixth main street in CIT colony in Mylapore is still not getting water. All the other streets in this colony receive copious water. Individual representations to the authorities concerned have not evoked any response.

K.V.K. Ramachandran,

Secy., TVH Tejas Chelas Park

Owners Assn.,

CIT Colony

Reclaim lakes from encroachers

This refers to a news item of October 19, reporting the arrest of a Deputy Collector on charges of abetting, cheating and forgery in the case of two businessmen encroaching on the Kolathur lake. Time and again, you have published many such reports including `Kolathur lake turns into a pool of sullage' in the recent past. I am afraid these reports have not had the desired results from the Government and the authorities concerned. Twenty years ago, I chose to settle down in Kolathur because of a beautiful lake and natural surroundings with close to the Villivakkam railway station. Alas! The Kolathur lake abutting inner ring road has been totally encroached by unscrupulous elements with the connivance of officials. It is not just 2 acres as reported, the entire lake with a spread of about 100 acres has been usurped and people have put up not only huts but RCC structures and commercial establishments. The water course still exists, though covered with silt, debris and of course encroachments. The flooding of Kolathur, Perambur, Maha Kavi Bharati Nagar, Vyasarpadi, etc. by the heavy downpour on October 27 could have been avoided had the Kolathur lake and the `Rettai eri' had been in their original form. The water problem of Chennai is man-made. The rain god is merciful enough to give copious water and we, instead of storing it, allow it to drain out into the sea and cry for water every year.

It is high time that the Government took measures on a war-footing to restore the lakes in and around the city, which reportedly number 600, by removing the encroachments without showing any mercy to the encroachers as directed by the High Court and also bring to book the unscrupulous elements and the officials responsible for such encroachments.

The water problem of the city cannot be solved until the lakes and the ponds are reclaimed and restored with proper upkeep. The political parties irrespective of their ideologies should work together to achieve this end if they truly intend to serve the people.

Raja Dinakaran,

Kolathur

GPO blamed

Savings bank cheque leaves used to be small in size sometime ago. Now they are big. It seems that the RBI has issued directions to the banks that if and when such small-sized cheques are sent for clearing, clearing charges have to be levied even for local cheques. This is the stand of the IOB East Mada Street Branch, Mylapore which has debited Rs.45 as clearing charges in respect of a cheque drawn on the PO SB of Chennai General Post Office for Rs.1001.

Chennai GPO, being a Presidency post office, ought not to have provided its SB account holders with this type of old cheque leaves. I appeal to the postal authorities to provide all SB holders who have cheque facility with the current type of cheque leaves, which are bigger than the old ones.

S. Vaidyanathan,

Mylapore

Roads need to be relaid

Some of the roads on which MTC buses ply in Saligramam and Virugambakkam such as State Bank Colony Second and Third streets, a portion of Abbusali Road and Kamaraj Road are in a very poor state after the recent rain. These roads are in division 129, Saligramam (Zone VIII) and division 65, Virugambakkam (Zone V). Even patch work has not been carried out for years together.

On behalf of residents of Virugambakkam and Saligramam, I request the Corporation Commissioner to have the above tarred roads relaid soon.

P. Viswanathan,

Saligramam

Municipality's unfair decision

We Pallavapuram residents were paying water charges at the rate of Rs. 25.50 per month. But, the Pallavapuram Municipality without prior intimation hiked the charges to Rs. 51 from April 1, 2005. Though we protested the hike, we still pay the charged demanded by the Municipality. What is shocking is that the Municipality is demanding the revised charges from December 1, 2002. This was also not intimated to the public. It is only when the residents go to the Municipality to pay the water charges that they came to know of it. Will the Pallavapuram Municipality drop its decision to claim water charges from December 1, 2002?

V. Santhanam,

president

Chromepet new colony

Residents welfare society

An appeal to the CMDA

The `Satsang' in Madipakkam has proposed to construct a `Karumathi Mandapam' (where rituals are performed sometime between the 10th day and the 15th day after one's death) at 13th Cross Street, Karthikeyapuram, Madipakkam. The residents of this area have already given a joint representation to all concerned requesting them not to give permission for the above structure. If permission is given, the residents in the surroundings will have to bear with a lot of inconvenience.

The CMDA should therefore not accord permission for the above Mandapam.

Savithri,

Madipakkam

Pedestrians' plight at Panagal Park

Traffic on North Usman Road in T.Nagar near Panagal Park has increased manifold. A number of rail commuters from suburban areas who alight at Mambalam station reach Panagal Park bus stop opposite the Girls' Higher Secondary School through Duraisamy Road to catch buses to various destinations. At this junction there is neither a traffic signal nor is there a traffic constable. Consequently, the commuters have to cross the road with great difficulty.

As there is no zebra crossing, pedestrians are compelled to cross the road, risking their lives because of speeding vehicles.

S. Jayabalan,

West Mambalam

Work is of poor quality

The recent laying of granite paving stones in Anna Nagar pavements seems to have been done in a slipshod way. The soil has not been properly compacted before laying the stones, resulting in gaps between the slabs and the ground below. Many stones have collapsed, leaving jagged edges jutting out with holes in the pavements. This is a serious hazard for pedestrians particularly when it is raining and dark. It is only a question of time before the entire pavement collapses.

It is high time that senior officials of the concerned agency inspected the pavements and do the needful before a fatal accident took place.

S. Ananthan,

Anna Nagar West

Unused land a problem for others

We the residents of Annai Indira Nagar, Velachery have represented to the Corporation Commissioner, the fact that a piece of vacant land lying in Survey No.276/1, Velachery village, Saidapet Taluk, is full of thick vegetation and parthenium weeds and has become a refuge for snakes and other poisonous insects.

Recently a male deer, which had strayed to this land from the nearby IIT campus, was found dead.

In spite of directions given by Velachery Police to the landowner, he has not taken any steps to clean up the area.

It is causing great hardship to the residents living in this area. Early action by authorities will be appreciated.

V. Viswanathan,

Secy., Velachery Annai Indira nagar,

Residents Welfare Assn.

Traffic signals that do not work

The traffic signals do not work at the junction of Padikkuppam Road and Park Road in Anna Nagar West for the past month. All the heavy vehicles going and coming between Anna Nagar and Ambattur Estate (via) Tirumangalam, Collector Nagar routes have to cross this crowded junction.

Many schools are located on both sides of the junction and students and parents suffer a lot because of this.

Nellai Ganapathy,

Anna Nagar

Streetlight does not work

The streetlight in front of my house in V.R. Pillai street, Triplicane is not working for the last four months. However all other lights in the street are working.

Complaints have been made orally and in writing without any result.

N. Parthasarathy,

Triplicane

Marai Malai Nagar totally neglected

Marai Malai Nagar town was upgraded 15 months ago from a town panchayat to a municipality. Till now, there is no bus terminus and bus service to the interior, spanning NH2, NH3 industrial area and other connected villages. People going to Chennai are the worst sufferers as they have to break journey. It is a matter of regret that the problem has been there right from the inception of this satellite town in 1979 while all other townships and villages enjoy transport facility. The town consists of 21 wards with half a lakh population, has 150 factories big and small and is dotted with a number of educational and professional institutions. It is a case of monumental neglect by the authorities concerned. The amenities a municipality has to provide are good motorable roads and a public transport system to connect it to the neighbouring areas. Both are totally lacking.

A memorandum signed by 2,200 people, and consent letters from 20 welfare, cultural, industrial and civic associations and political parties was handed over to the Transport Secretary on March 18, 2005. The people here are anxiously awaiting the extension of metro buses on routes E18, G18 and PP21 now plying up to Guduvancheri to here. It is understood that metro buses will start plying from Chennai to Thiruporur, a town panchayat shortly.

S. Gopalan,

Marai Malai Nagar

Plea to MTC

As of now, only ordinary buses coming to Periyar Nagar bus stand pass through Karthikeyan Salai — Venkataraman Salai junction. All other buses, during their trips in both directions take a turn to the bus stand from the previous stop near the temple. This is causing much inconvenience to the travelling public.

There are a number of housing colonies beyond Venkatraman Salai such as Adhiyaman, Kambar, and Vetri Selvi Anbazhagan Nagars and Asoka Avenue, etc., covering a vast area, which are not connected by public transport. The residents of these colonies, of whom there are senior citizens, school children and women working in multinational companies in and around the city etc, have to trek quite a distance to catch buses.

If all the buses plying to and from the Periyar Nagar bus stand pass through Kartikeyan Salai — Venkatraman Salai junction it will be a boon to the residents of these colonies. The cost involved for the MTC in doing so will be negligible compared to the advantages the public will derive from it.

K.V. Abraham,

Secy., Adhiyaman nagar,

Residents welfare assn.,

Kolathur

Make it toll-free

We are well aware that whenever there is a power failure, consumers are advised to contact telephone no. 1912, as the fuse call centres are engaged during the period. It seems on an average consumers contact no. 1912, at least a thousand times daily due to power failure. On rainy days there may be four-fold increase in the number of calls. Unfortunately these calls are metered calls. Calls to numbers 100, 102, 103 etc. are not metered as these are considered public utility services calls. By the same token, I request the authorities concerned to make the calls to 1912 toll-free.

C. Jayachandran,

Purasawalkam

Wrapper not easy to tear off

A few days ago, I bought an India telephone card worth Rs. 100 (Serial no. IBE 0201696-PSN No. 8050504 9838605). To my surprise, it was not easy to tear off the very thin wrapper. When I exerted a little pressure to take off the wrapper, the 16-digit secret number was totally damaged. Hence I could not use the said card. The wrapper used previously was very easy to tear off. I request the authorities to take note of this problem.

A. Roy,

Urapakkam

Buses with leaking roofs

The other day when it rained, I had to open an umbrella in a bus, thanks to its leaking roof! There are many such MTC buses with leaking roofs. When the bus-fares are periodically hiked, should not the MTC authorities provide leak-proof buses for the commuters? Gone are the days when MTC buses (PTC buses then) in Chennai (Madras then) were the best maintained ones in the country. About the MTC buses now, the less said the better. Buses in Hyderabad, Bangalore and New Delhi are much better in terms of maintenance.

K. Pradeep,

Mogappair

Bus stand for Pallavaram

May I request the authorities of the MTC to see for themselves the difficulties faced by the bus commuters at Pallavaram bus stand to catch a bus during peak hours, particularly between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. A permanent solution to the problem of the passengers is to increase buses on this route. A bus terminus at Pallavaram must be constructed at the earliest. Pallavaram bus stand has to serve the needs of surrounding areas such as Pammal, Pozhichalur, Sankarnagar, Anakaputhur, Zamin Pallavaram, etc.

Mohamed Yahya,

Pallavaram

More counters for elders sought

Adambakkam, lying between Guindy and St.Thomas Mount, is a thickly populated residential area. Many Central Government pensioners and others live here. Since there is not even a single branch of a nationalised bank in the Adambakkam residential area, most of the pensioners are invariably drawing their pension amount from the only branch of Indian Overseas Bank located at the extreme end of Alandur Municipal area near the Mount Railway station. Since there is no organised bus transport facility to this place due to bad condition of roads, pensioners find it difficult to reach the bank in time to receive their pensions. Moreover, since the bank is operating only a limited number of payment counters for pensioners, there is a heavy rush of senior citizens. May I suggest that this branch open two more counters for senior citizens (pensioners) and elders.

M. Thiyagarajan,

Adambakkam

CMWSSB reply

With reference to the letter in The Reader's Mail column of August 22, about houses in Ayya Flats, 2nd Cross Street, Dhandeeswarar Nagar, Velachery not getting piped water, the Public Relations Manager, CMWSSB, Mr. P. Swaminathan, writes. In order to improve the water supply through pipelines in the above street, the damaged 150 mm dia PVC pipeline has been replaced with a 150 mm dia CI main at the junction of Gandhi Salai and Velachery Main Road. Now the water supply position has improved. The residents of Ayya Flats at 2nd Cross Street, Dhandeeswarar Nagar are getting water in their sump.

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