Chennai: A week after cyclone Vardah leaving the city devastated and the back-to-back meetings held by the state ministers and bureaucrats are yet to bring relief and respite in several areas of greater Chennai.
Power cuts, mosquito menace, garbage stagnation, blocked interior roads due to trees not cleared and lack of water supply to overhead tanks are common issues haunting Chennaiites.
Adding to this, the residents complaint they are unable to repair the damaged houses due to cash crunch. “The asbestos sheets that covered the roof of my house drifted during the cyclone. On Saturday, I found a mason to fix it, but the work got delayed due to cash crunch and I have to pay Rs 1,200 extra as the work got delayed for two days,” said K. Suresh, a resident of K.M. Garden near Pulianthope.
Further, with the corporation workers not clearing the garbage and the greenery laid to waste by the cyclone, the entire locality is now a nightmare for residents, he added.
“As the cyclone tore the city, mobile phones were not working for the first two days, and to reach the corporation staff it was so difficult. Then on Monday, when I called a corporation zonal officer (Adyar zone) for a complaint in ward 177, the officer diverted me to contact another zonal officer without realising that he was passing the buck playing with jurisdictions,” said Uma Kannan, a resident of Velachery.
When contacted, a senior corporation official denied allegations that relief work was taken up at a slow pace. “Please remember that a disaster has struck Chennai bringing down thousands of trees. The situation is improving and by this week all the interior roads will be cleared of uprooted trees. Further in Chennai, public do not volunteer for cutting trees as they are not used in handling axe or machete unlike the villagers who clear uprooted trees on their own,” the official added.
