Two street Colony cries for attention

Postal Audit Colony has not been black-topped in 11 years.

A view of the bad condition of Postal Audit Colony 1st Street at Saligramam in Chennai. Photo: S.S. Kumar

Postal Audit Colony in Saligramam is a two-street locality: its two stretches are called First Street and Second Street. The Colony is situated between Jakkammal Street on the east and Harris Street on the west. Colony residents complain that First Street and Second Street were black-topped 11 years ago. In contrast, roads and streets in areas around Postal Audit Colony, including Jakkammal Street and Harris Street, have been re-laid at least twice in the years.

A resident on Second Street says, “During the rainy season water logging is very common. After several appeals, a hole was drilled by the civic body where Second Street meets Jakkammal Street to make the rain water flow into the drain below. But it was not properly covered and it has become a pit in the middle of the street and is a threat to motorists and pedestrians.”

Overflowing manholes on either end of the Second Street and First Street, non-functioning street lights is an added problem. One of the long-time residents of the Colony, Radhakrishnan from Second Street, says he along with another long-time resident Mohandas, represented the issues many a time to the authorities. Similar efforts met with failure, says Jayaprakash, another resident.

During the civic elections of 2011, a few women residents of Sri Sai Castle on Second Street demanded from the contestants that road re-laying work should be initiated at the earliest. They even went to the extent of boycotting the civic elections. A quick fix was done: blue metal was laid without tarring. The quick measure was taken to tide over the monsoon period. The promise of a more permanent solution after the elections was not kept, says Ms. Jothi of Sri Sai Castle.

Sudevan from the same apartment complex says that until four or five years ago an elderly woman was appointed to keep the streets clean by the civic body. After her retirement, no replacement was found with the result that the streets are full of litter allowing mosquitoes to breed.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com