Citizen Connect: Motorists, pedestrians suffer as mud turns street slippery

The wet mud poses great threat to two-wheeler riders, said residents. “We have witnessed many accidents in this particular area. I have seen many people getting injured due to this,” said S Venkatesan, an artist, who uses the road regularly.

He also claimed that the frequent power cuts in the locality reduces visibility on the road and sometimes people riding two-wheelers can’t even see the accumulated mud. “We have lodged several complaints with the municipality officials to clear the waste. But, the workers refuse to clear the mud claiming that it was not their duty to do it,” K Valarmathy, a house wife and resident of the street, said.

She added that pedestrians, including children, were forced to walk on the middle of the road due to the waste accumulated in the corner. “During peak hours, people were forced to walk on the mud,”she added.

A senior official from the Pallavaram Municipality said that sanitary workers’ duty is only to take out the waste in the storm water drain. It has to be cleared by the garbage vehicle visiting the locality. Admitting that several complaints have already been lodged to solve the issue, the official said that measures have been initiated to clear the waste.

However, residents complained that they were facing the same problem every two weeks. “It is rare that the mud and waste is cleared immediately. If it is not raining, they get just get dried. The officials don’t bother to solve the issue permanently,”she said.

A Class 11 student, who uses Muthu Mariamman Koil Street regularly to reach his school, said it was very difficult to ride the bicycle as the road is very slippery during rains. “My vehicle skid and I almost fell one day. But, a pedestrian saved me,” he said.