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Tamil Nadu
Clogged: Residents want authorities to remove the encroachments on the service lanes along GST Road in Guduvanchery. — 
TAMBARAM: Far from living up to the expectations of the people, the Nandivaram Guduvanchery town panchayat continues to grapple with a host of civic problems nearly 25 years after it was created. Insufficient drainage facilities, poor garbage collection and disposal, pathetic condition of the bus terminus and lack of maintenance of service lanes along Grand Southern Trunk Road are some of the problems. Formed as a result of the merger of Nandivaram and Guduvanchery village panchayats, it has a population of over 40,000. The town panchayat also has a high volume of floating population as Guduvanchery is an important commercial centre for many villages around it. The widening and improvement works carried out on GST Road have certainly given a facelift to the town, but beyond the sheen, the record of the urban local body has been unimpressive, says R.Kanniyappan, a resident of Kamarajapuram, Guduvanchery. Pointing to the huge piles of garbage on street corners and stagnation of water and sewage, he charged the administrators and elected representatives with failing to address the issues over the years. On Muthumariamman Koil Street, the local body had entrusted the task of building stormwater drains and a culvert on top of them to two different contractors with a result that the work was shoddy. Though the drains have been completed, rainwater has been stagnating for over a month now, making it an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, he said. B.Velu, a resident of Amudham Colony and a political party functionary, said the state of the bus terminus and some of the link roads leading to the villages around the town were in need of improvements. Several hundred commuters were put to acute hardship due to the present state of affairs in the bus terminus, which was constructed at the cost of Rs.1 crore. He recalled that though government officials came up with temporary measures following a demonstration seeking the improvements last year, a long-term solution continues to elude the residents. Drivers of Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses hesitate to enter the facility during rush hour and park the buses on the carriageway of the GST Road, causing traffic snarls. “Students who arrive in these buses to reach government schools nearby are forced to wade through slushy water when it rains,” he said. The local body’s response to the need for clearing piles of uncleared garbage was poor, he said pointing to the dumping of poultry and meat waste on vast tract of vacant land opposite the Government Higher Secondary School on Nellikuppam Road. The quantity of drinking water supplied to residents was not adequate, but due to copious ground water they did not feel the pinch. The residents also have to put up with erratic power supply and voltage fluctuations, Mr. Velu said. Another issue to which the government authorities need to pay attention is the state of service lanes along GST Road. On any given time of the day, heavy vehicles and temporary commercial establishments take over the service lanes, making it difficult for the pedestrians and other vehicles. Mr. Kanniyappan said that about 5,000 children were studying in the three government schools on Nellikuppam Road. The movement of hundreds of buses ferrying employees of industrial units and lorries transporting stones from quarries around Guduvanchery posed problems to them. Residents had on several occasions urged the government authorities to install temporary barricades and build speed breakers, but there has been no response yet, he said. Stagnation of rainwater at the intersection of GST Road and Nellikuppam Road was also a pressing problem.
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