Roads, drains remain Avadi’s sore points

Evenings have turn out to be happier and stuffed with actions for residents of Avadi in Tiruvallur district, due to the restoration and improvement of the Paruthipattu lake into an eco-park. The ₹28-crore venture, which gave a brand new lease of life to the lake, is likely one of the achievements of Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture K. Pandiarajan, who represents Avadi within the Assembly. Five lakes, together with Ayanambakkam and Sekkadu, have been restored within the final 5 years.

“We have a Tidel park coming up near the railway line. Construction work is under way. It will help residents here to get better job opportunities in a new field. Most residents here depend on the public sector undertakings and the manufacturing industries in the neighbouring areas. If this is completed, we need not travel all the way to the IT corridor for work. Though it took some time to fructify, we are happy that it has happened as it would help improve infrastructure, including roads,” mentioned a shopper activist and long-time resident of Avadi and added that extra wanted to be accomplished to enhance the standard of lifetime of residents.

However, residents of Pattabiram and Avadi city say although they had been impressed with the work of their MLA, who’s a Minister, they’re sad with the functioning of the municipal company. “Even basic things like sweeping of roads, clearing of garbage and laying of roads have not happened. Main roads, including Kamrajar Salai and Alamathi Road, are badly in need of re-laying. We may be the fifth largest constituency in terms of the number of voters, we would perhaps also be the only one to have seven Tasmac shops on a 2-km stretch,” mentioned J. Jayakumar, a resident.

Residents mentioned there have been nonetheless localities that didn’t have underground drainage, an important component to make sure hygiene. “There are streets where you can see sullage running on either side. A cartel of contractors is preventing work, including laying of roads, from being carried out. Something must be done to change this,” mentioned a resident.

Mr. Pandiarajan mentioned the much-awaited underground sewage venture was occurring now and covers 8,000 properties.

Minister’s assurance

“The work was stopped due to the election notification. It will be completed. The system with a 4 million litres daily pumping station at Mittanamalli is functioning well. We have covered more homes with safe potable drinking water. In place of 1 MLD earlier, we now supply 10 MLD. Similarly, we have rehabilitated over 3,000 families that encroached government land worth ₹502 crore and are in the process of constructing various government offices there,” he mentioned.

The Tidel park and the Chennai Peripheral Road, connecting Mamallapuram and Minjur, would assist develop the constituency as an IT and logistics hub. “In the next five years, I see transformation of Avadi from a manufacturing shop to a hub. We will be restoring five more lakes,” he mentioned.