Tambaram was better when it was a panchayat, rue residents

CHENNAI: The residents of the villages which come under the Tambaram corporation are not happy with the works done by the new corporation administration and said that everything was done better when their villages were under the municipal and panchayat control.

A year later the government announced Tambaram as a corporation by linking the Tambaram, Pammal, Sembakkam, Anagaputhur, and Pallavaram municipalities and Chitlapakkam, Madambakkam, Perungalathur, Peerkankaranai and Thiruneermalai town panchayats, the residents who celebrated the announcement last year are now in a state of disppointment and say that everything was better when they were under the panchayat control.

The Tambaram corporation consists of more than 10 lakh people and it's been divided into five zones with each zone comprising 14 wards. The residents were hoping that after becoming a corporation they would be getting better roads, street lights, proper drinking water facilities and garbage would be collected properly and the area would be neat and clean. Now even after a year passed the residents said there are no changes in their locality. The residents said they could not find any improvements after becoming a corporation and only there is a hike in tax and there are not even a small percentage of improvements.

Dinesh from Chromepet said, we welcomed the announcement of becoming a corporation on the thought that we would be getting better facilities like the city but here the taxes got doubled and the facilities became worse. The residents added that earlier when they needed to change the names of the property tax it was done for free now since the villages are coming under corporation the officials are charging up to Rs. 20,000 for the name change alone. We understand that there will be a hike in everything when we come under corporation but at the same time we should be provided with better amenities, said the residents.

The residents said the hygiene conditions has become worse in Tambaram and it was better when under municipality and panchayats. They said that the garbage is being collected properly and most of the streets are filled with garbage. The Tambaram market has become worse with stench forcing pedestrians to cover thier noses.

However, the Tambaram Corporation commissioner M Elangovan said there is a massive improvement in sanitary works in Tambaram after being upgraded to Corporation. He said that in the next few years all areas in Tambaram would be getting an integrated drinking water system, drainage and stormwater drainage. He added that the infrastructure development will take some time and emphasised that the much awaited civic infra works are underway. Tambaram would be having the best amenities in the upcoming years, the commissioner exuded confidence.

The villagers said the other main problem in Tambaram is the bad roads. Most of the roads are in a bad shape and now with the monsoon approaching the motorist who is travelling on the roads are at the recieving ends. We have requested the corporation officials to take steps to repair the roads but there was no proper response from them.

When contacted, Tambaram MLA S R Raja said that it will take some time to change. The government would appoint assistant commissioners and engineers for each zone and we are expecting the announcement within a week. Later the infrastructure would be improved and within the next few months the Tambaram corporation would scale up in terms of development and the public can witness the developments in the days to come.