New name boards: Five streets in Ambattur left out

CHENNAI: The civic body authorities are replacing damaged street name boards in the city. But, a few streets continue to be ignored in ward 80 in Ambattur. These streets do have not name boards for over a decade. Residents and commuters travelling on the routes often find it difficult to identify the location. The residents urge the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials to place street name boards at the earliest.

“Almost all the streets in ward 80 have new name boards, but only five streets - Tiruvallur Street, Dr Ambedkar Street, Periyar Street, MC Raja Street and Vijayalakshmipuram do not have any signage boards. Earlier, the street names were painted on the walls and it has remained the same all these years. It has been difficult to direct the delivery partners, autos, ambulances, and drinking water lorries of metro water,” said S Jayachandran, a resident of Ambattur.

“The food delivery people use the google map, however, it does not show the exact location of these five streets. Instead of reaching Dr Ambedkar Nagar, they reached Bharathinagar which is 500 meters away,” he added.

Similarly, it is difficult to book an auto through Ola and Uber as they don’t reach the exact point. Even in emergency cases, the residents find it difficult to guide the ambulances and it would take a long time for the drivers to arrive on time.

Residents stated that they have filed multiple complaints to the concerned department for the past 10 years, yet the issue has not been addressed. “People don’t notice the existing name painted on the wall, recently we have raised the issue with the MLA, ward councillor and zonal officers to put a name board like other streets in the locality,” said V Udhayakumar, a resident of Tiruvallur Street in Ambattur.

Zonal Corporation official did not respond to the calls despite multiple attempts by DT Next.