Suburban blues strike Perungudi

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It takes at least half an hour for Bhuvaneshwari, a Class IX student of Taramani Chennai Corporation School, to reach the school fro­m her residence in Periyar Street, Perungudi. As there are no buses, she has to walk six km daily.

Hundreds of residents in Periyar Street, MGR Street, J.J. Nagar, Thiruvalluvar Nagar and Ambedkar Na­gar are compelled to travel by autos and two-wheelers to reach MGR Road, Kan­dhanchavadi to board a bu­s. “There are more than 200 interior roads in Perungudi that are un-motorable and without any bus connectivity. Though Perungudi was merged with the Chennai Co­r­p­oration a year back, nothing has changed,” said Mr Bhaskaran, a resident of Perungudi. Hundreds of office-goers have to take auto-rickshaws to reach the nearby Taramani and Perungudi MRTS stations.

“These streets are in between the Taramani and Perungudi stations. Tho­ugh there are short-cut routes to reach the stations, during rainy days one has to wade through knee-deep water,” said a shop-keeper on Anna Salai, Kand­hanc­havadi.

Bhuvaneshwari said many of her friends take a short-cut via Taramani MRTS Station as they cannot walk for more than 20 minutes to reach their residences. “We don’t have cycles and we often see motorists falling in the thick slush in Govindaswamy Street. The short-cut route is not safe and always wear a deserted look,” said another student.

There are many IT companies on MGR Road, just three km from the locality and residents hope the civic body will improve basic amenities in their areas. Moreover, Chennai Metro Water has taken up underground drainage work at Govindaswamy Street making the street virtually unusable.

When contacted, an official of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) said, “The drainage is being constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and the work will be completed in six months.”