Citizen connect: Pammal residents struggle due to snail-paced civic works

CHENNAI: The ongoing underground sewage project is causing problems for the residents across the Pammal area near Pallavaram.

At Devadass Street, the authorities who were involved in the project did not show any respect for the commuters as they discarded helter-skelter the debris collected from the dug-up pits to connect the sewage pipelines.

With the debris almost occupying three-fourths of the street, the two-wheelers and four-wheelers found it difficult to cross the road.

“This debris has not been cleared for almost a month. The recent rains have added to the problems as the street has become slushy and muddy and the motorists were facing difficulty in negotiating the area,” said S Aashish Kumar, an IT employee in the city, who uses the road regularly.

He said despite several complaints with the Pammal Municipality, there was no action taken until now.

“The authorities claim that people have to adjust to the situation when a huge sewage project was going on,” he claimed.

He said the official also said that Devadas Street was not only the street that had this problem but several other roads were also in such a condition.

When speaking to the Pammal Municipality officials, a senior official, seeking anonymity, said, “We have fewer labourers for the project. The digging was done soon, but collecting the debris and disposing it to a safe place was very difficult. People have to understand our situation also. The project is for them only. We will not gain anything out of the scheme.”

S Rajalakshmi, a housewife in the street added that the government should have allocated enough money to appoint labourers that were required for the sewage project without disturbing the locals.

“It is difficult for the school students, who pass through the road riding their bicycles,” she said adding, “Therefore, the local authorities should clean this place as soon as possible to solve the issue.”