Poor roads, drains mar life in Urapakkam

Chennai: Urapakkam  hosts important state and national level meetings with ministers giving speeches on their plans to develop the infrastructure of the city. But residents of the area rue that the scenario just 200 metres away from the ground is the other way round. Most localities in the area lack proper roads, storm water drains and sewage pipelines.

Dhanasekar Vasudevan, a resident of the locality, said, “Though Urapakkam is located in close proximity to the city and ministers often visit the area, it lacks basic facilities. The panchayat water connection has been a long pending demand.”

Waterlogging  area has been reported by residents for a long time now. The monsoon season of the last two years has been a nightmare for people with insects and water seeping into houses.

“Water draining from Maduranthagam Eri will flow through Chengalpet, Guduvancheri, Urapakkam, Padappai and reaches Chemberambakkam through Adyar river. But now most of the pathway has been clogged leading floods on the streets. Right now, Urapakkam’s groundwater level is just two feet lower than the household sewage pits, failing to imbibe sewage water,” said another resident, adding that in a few localities stormwater drains are used as sewage pipelines.

Residents also complain of encroachments near the water bodies, leaving less than 25 per cent of the space for water storage. Repeated efforts by volunteers, to clear the encroachments reaped no results, they said.

When contacted, an official said a fund would soon be allocated to repair the roads in the locality after which other problems would be addressed.