The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Challenging problems to any candidate

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 07, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Challenging problems to any candidate

Meera Srinivasan

Cattle menace, unregulated market spaces, traffic chaos

CATTLE MENACE: Stray cattle continue to create problems for residents and vehicle users in parts of Triplicane. Scene at T.P. Koil Street - Singarachari street junction on Friday. — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

CHENNAI: The prayer songs of different faiths echo in harmony in the streets of Triplicane. Business thrives in this fascinating "old-timer" locality, tempting one to believe that the residents of the constituency live in a trouble-free zone.

However, several civic issues are everyday nuisance, say residents and traders. Issues that will be a challenge to any candidate. M. Naganathan of the DMK and Bader Sayeed of the AIADMK are the main rivals. K. Shivakumar of Vijayakanth's DMDK and K. Saravanan (BSP) and S. Sathish Kumar (BJP) complete the list.

Cattle menace, unregulated market spaces, congestion, inconsistent drinking water supply in a few areas and traffic chaos were major issues put forth by residents.

"There are several road-side vendors selling vegetables and fruits. Cattle keep roaming about these streets and feed on the vegetable waste. Commuters find it extremely difficult," said T.J. Ramani, president of Srinivasa Young Men's Association (SYMA), an organisation involved in serving locals for nearly three decades.

There were even cases of cattle causing serious injuries to pedestrians. Since several milk vendors live in the area, they let their cattle roam around the neighbouring areas.

"I have to guard my fruits all the time. I'm scared to be away for even a few minutes as the cows would eat them all up," says Sarasu, a jackfruit vendor at T.P. Koil street.

While vendors blame the cattle, residents blame the vendors. "They spread out their stock on the pavements and roads, cluttering the already-crowded areas. Regulation will help," says Mr. Ramani.

G. Ezhumalai, who has been selling flowers in the locality for 25 years, feels an exclusive market space could be constructed around one of the important junctions. "Since there is no organised market here, we are forced to put up pavement shops," he says.

Garbage disposal is yet another issue troubling residents. Says Mr. Ramani, "Cows push the bins down, making a mess of the place. We need sturdy bins that can hold more garbage."

Thameem Unissa feels frequent suspension of power supply, especially during summer, needs to be attended to. "Off late, there are power cuts almost every other day," she laments.

Another problem raised was the haphazard manner in which cars are parked in the area. Residents attributed this to the growth in private taxi services, operated in the locality.

Drinking water supply could also be better, say locals. "We have to pump water, but sometimes, water pressure is not sufficient," says a resident.

Residents also spoke about the crematorium in the area, which was "too expensive". They said an electric or a gasifier crematorium would be useful.

T. Krishnasamy, president of the Triplicane Traders' Association feels the "rowdy menace" continues to exist.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail