‘Re-laying good roads poll gimmick, not fooling anyone’

CHENNAI: Relaying of roads, repairing streetlights, clearing garbage and providing better drinking water facilities are basic amenities that every denizen must have access to. After years of waiting for these utilities, suddenly, residents of Perungalathur are at the receiving end of such good news which should, ideally, have them jumping with joy.

Except, a good portion of voters are suspicious that the roads were re-laid in areas that come directly under the Sriperumbudur, and question the timing of relaying the roads, especially with the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Residents are crying foul with the officials since the Corporation began laying the roads after the election dates were announced. They claimed that the roads that were in good condition were being ‘repaired’ as the political leaders were visiting the locality for the campaign. But the roads that have been in bad shape for the past two years continued to be riddled potholes, and even patchworks were not carried. The welfare associations in Perungalathur said that they were planning to boycott the polls.

Perungalathur is considered one of the important places in the Chennai, as it’s one of the fastest growing suburban areas. The area comes under the Tambaram Corporation. Peerkankaranai and Perungalathur together have over 2 lakh population. People working in a nearby IT park are also staying in Perungalathur.

Dinesh, a resident of Perungalathur, and an IT employee, said, “Roads in Perungalathur have been in a bad condition for years. We did not see any roads properly laid after the 2021-Assembly elections.”

Mahendra Boopathy, president of the Perungalathur Welfare Association, concurred and added: “We have been requesting officials through various petitions to repair the damaged roads but there was no response from anyone. I filed an RTI to know about these road works in Perungalathur and Peerkankaranai, and even then I didn’t get a proper reply.”

But now, there are signs of roads being repaired. Since the Lok Sabha elections are nearing, political parties are busy campaigning and meeting residents for votes. Residents said that two days ago, at midnight, officials laid a road which was already in good condition. It was ‘repaired’ as the political leaders had planned to travel by road for the election campaign.

There are 138 streets in the 58th ward in Perungalathur but only two streets, which would be used by the political leaders for the campaigning, were repaired, while the rest remain in a pathetic condition.

“We have been requesting officials to repair them for the past two years but in vain. Now that the political leaders will be visiting the area, good roads are being re-laid. This is beyond ridiculous and an unnecessary waste of money,” fumed a resident to DT Next.

On Monday night, several residents stopped the road laying work and asked for the order copy from the contractor but there was none available. Later, the work was discontinued and the workers left the area without cleaning it.

Naveen, a resident of Perungalathur said, “If the government cares for the people, they should repair bad roads immediately after the polls. Anything else is a pathetic attempt to get votes, which the people can see through.”

The welfare association of the three wards in Perungalathur said that they were planning to boycott the Lok Sabha elections. A resident in one of the wards noted that a road near Abdul Kalam Park in Perungalathur was laid by the Corporation last year but it did not hold up for even two weeks and is yet to be repaired.

However, the Tambaram Corporation Commissioner R Alagu Meena denied that the roads were being laid for election purposes and said, “The work orders were issued before the election, so the work is being carried out now. The work will continue, as only a few roads are yet to be repaired in Perungalathur and Peerkankaranai and it will be finished soon.”