Residents demand re-laying of damaged roads

Frustrated over the indefinite delay in re-laying the roads damaged in underground drainage project in their area, residents of Bharani Nagar near Vannarpet in Palayamkottai staged road roko on the busy service road near Chellapandian traffic island on Monday.

Almost all the roads in this 30-year-old residential area under ward 10 of Tirunelveli Corporation with more than 500 houses, good number of hospitals and commercial establishments, schools and an engineering college on 26 streets are badly damaged, owing to the indefinitely continuing underground drainage project.

Since the roads of Bharani Nagar, which has been created on erstwhile paddy fields, would become slushy even after brief drizzles, the residents repeatedly submitted petitions to the Corporation on several occasions but in vain.

Interestingly, chairperson of Thatchanallur zone of Tirunelveli Corporation Revathi is the councillor of ward 10.

As their ordeals continue, the residents blocked the service road near Chellapandian traffic island flyover on Monday. When the protesters tried to block the vehicular traffic on the North Bypass Road, the police prevented them with ropes which angered the protestors further.

“Bharani Nagar generates around ₹3 crore property tax to the Corporation every year. However, the urban civic body does not do any good for us. We’re submitting petitions repeatedly to the Collector, Corporation Commissioner and Mayor appealing to them to re-lay the damaged roads. We even submitted a petition with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin during his road show in February last year. All the petitions including the appeals we submitted with Mr. Stalin have apparently reached the trash. Hence, we’re protesting now,” said the agitators.

When the Corporation officials assured that the road re-laying work would be started before January 30, the protestors asked the officials to give the assurance in black and white. After the officials persuaded the protesting residents, the agitation was withdrawn.