The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Park Town residents demand basic amenities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Park Town residents demand basic amenities

Kannal Achuthan

Their list of demands include better sanitary conditions

Chennai: Residents of the Park Town constituency have only a critical list of demands for candidates standing for the Assembly election. The list is about civic woes: sanitation, garbage disposal, street lighting and roads.

Residents of this constituency, with a total electorate of about 1.5 lakh are unhappy with the poor sanitary conditions. Many of them say they suffer from health problems. The constituency covering wards 41-49 comprises Pulianthope, Dr. Besant Nagar, Peddunaickenpet, Perumal Koil Garden, Thattankulam, Choolai, Park Town, Elephant Gate and Edapalayam.

The main problem for residents of Pulianthope is the lack of hygiene and the maintenance of the slaughterhouse located near the Tamil Nadu Housing Board complex. Teachers of a government school located close to the slaughterhouse say that most of the waste is dumped in a canal near the classrooms. Hence, they keep the classroom windows closed. The TNHB complex residents also say that their living conditions are poor.

Pulianthope and the parts of it that fall under the Park Town constituency faced major problems during last year's rains. Entire streets were flooded with water for days and therefore power supply was stopped for long - an indicator of the drainage problems. The rain also affected sanitation.

But poor sanitation does not restrict itself to Pulianthope. J. Fatehraj, secretary, North Chennai district Exnora, says that lack of public toilets in the busy commercial roads have left the place stinking.

s"Some of the existing toilets have been demolished and this area has only one sanitary complex now. Toilets need to be built at the junction of Wall Tax Road and N.S.C. Bose Road and on Ekambareeswar Koil Agraharam street," Mr. Fatehraj said. Similarly, garbage clearance is a problem. Says S. Ramani of N.S.C. Bose Road, "Garbage has rotted and as it has not been cleared for many days it has created an unpleasant stench." Lack of sanitation has also proved to be costly. Incidences of malaria and other vector-borne diseases are high."

Lack of streetlights

The lack of streetlights is another pressing problem. The problem is acute in many streets including Lakamdas street, Raghunath Koil street, Lingi Chetty street, Ponappa street, Paramasiva Chetty street and Nainiappa Maistry street. Residents also request an effective rainwater harvesting system near the Amman temple at the junction of Mint Street and N.S.C. Bose Road as it could prevent water stagnation.

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