Corpn ignoring Ponnurangam Salai after laying link road to Nesapakkam, complain residents

Until 2017, Ponnurangam Salai in Nesapakkam was the gateway to enter KK Nagar or MGR Nagar from Ramapuram and surroundings and vice-versa. Motorists preferred this narrow stretch to Choolaipallam road as it was even more crowded with encroachments having made the road almost unusable by vehicles.

While the residents of Ponnurangam Salai hoped that things will change for better after the construction of link road from Anna Main road to Nesapakkam in 2017, their wait has only been getting longer. “The first, second and third streets of Ponnurangam Salai have been completely ignored by the Corporation as roads remain unlaid for years. There were mild rains for the past two days and the roads are already water-logged. Imagine our plight if there had really been a downpour,” said Pachayappan, a private firm employee and resident of Nesapakkam.

He said the Greater Chennai Corporation used to give excuses claiming it would be difficult to lay the road until the link road is complete. “Two years have passed after the link was completed. Last year, the road was dug up to fix the underground drainage, but the road was never re-laid,” he said.

Balamurugan, another resident and advocate, blamed the incomplete stormwater drain network for the roads getting water-logged. “Authorities have built the storm water drains here and there, but they have not been linked. So, the rainwater reaches low-lying area and inundate it,” he said. There are thousands of families living in the locality for whom this is the quickest way to reach MGR Nagar and KK Nagar. “But because of the poor roads, the narrow stretch becomes jam-packed during peak traffic hours. Also, the absence of a traffic signal at Anna Road and Ponnurangam Salai junction makes it difficult for motorists in the morning and evening hours,” he said.

The executive engineer of Zone 10 (Kodambakkam), under whose control the stretch falls under, was not available for his comment.