Residents fix half-done Smart City works with own money

VELLORE: It was revealed that residents of Vijayaraghavapuram in Sathuvachary have been forced to spend their own money to complete half-finished works under the Smart City project.

The Vellore Smart City project estimated at slightly more than Rs 900 crore envisages provision of the latest people oriented facilities, including pavements with handrails, new smart city street name boards in addition to major works like car parks, water supply OHTs etc.

Though pavements with rails were completed in most areas of Sathuvachary, including housing board phases I, II and III, officials somehow seem to have over looked Vijayaraghavapuram adjacent to the Gangai Amman Temple in old Sathuvachary.

A resident requesting anonymity said, “The contractor laid the border for the pavement and then left. When we accosted him he said he had run out of money and that we should complete the work on our own.”

Amudavalli another resident denounced the slipshod work undertaken by the contractor saying, “We are forced to complete the work as the border for the pavement is made of cement and hence we need to fill up the intervening space if we need to get our two wheelers inside. Otherwise the space between the house and the pavement border will ensure stagnation of rain water.”

Though pavements in all the completed areas consisted of paver blocks, here locals not wanting to spend too much are filling the space with bricks.

When asked about it Mayor Sujatha Ananda Kumar said, “There is no dearth of money for completion of Smart City work in Sathuvachary. The footpath in question might have been waiting for completion of underground drain work before being plastered with paver blocks. Anyway I shall check to see if the area in question is included in the scheme works.”