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Poor civic amenities plague Solai Nagar residents

Photo: C. Venkatachalapathy

Crying for attention: The Indira Gandhi Park at Solai Nagar in Puducherry has been devoid of proper maintenance for some time and remains locked for over a year. —

PUDUCHERRY: Residents of Solai Nagar have their cup of woes full as the locality lacks proper garbage disposal facility and streetlights. A public park in the locality has been crying for attention for a long time.

Solai Nagar, which is one of the earliest areas to be developed by the government, has 14 streets, excluding the coastal villages. There are 540 families in the locality, residents said.

“There are no garbage bins on the streets. As a result, the four corners of the Indira Gandhi Park here have turned into garbage dumps. This has increased stray dog and cattle menace. The municipality should either place waste bins on every street or undertake door-to-door garbage collection,” said S. Mallikarjunan, a resident of the area for nearly 30 years.

Improper functioning of streetlights has been a major problem, residents said. “Only 25 per cent of the streetlights are functioning. Most of the streets plunge into darkness every evening. Repeated requests to repair the streetlights have not yielded results. The aged people find it extremely difficult to walk and it is also unsafe,” pointed out N. Gunasekaran, Secretary of Solai Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association.

The park, which has been locked and left in a bad shape, is another issue the residents want to be addressed. According to the association president, R. Shanmugasundaranar, “The park was opened nearly 20 years ago. Earlier, there was no fence. The municipality started renovation work a year ago and constructed a compound wall and seats. There were plans to establish a garden but the works have not been completed for want of funds and the park has been locked since then.”

With no proper maintenance, the park has turned into a playground with children scaling the wall to gain entry. N. Sundarajan, a resident of Mullai Street said that domes with lights installed on the walls had been broken and residents could not use this lung spaceMr. Mallikarjunan said that if the works were completed, residents could take an evening stroll in the park. Residents like P. Vairakkannu said that the area witnessed frequent power cuts and the quality of drinking water supplied was also poor. A tank present in the area should be cleaned periodically.

H. Dasarathan, a resident of Thendral Street, said that bus connectivity to the area, which was withdrawn, should be revived. Street signboards should be placed in all streets, he added.

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