Returning to Nanganallur after spending nearly three decades in Singapore, Ganesan, a businessman, was wonder-struck. Certain images of Nanganallur that had stayed frozen in his mind, did not represent reality anymore.
Around 30 years ago, to reach Nanganallur, train commuters would detrain at the St.Thomas Mount railway station and hire horse-driven jatkas. The jatkas would go down a sandy road.
Though Nanganallur was then located far outside city limits, people from other parts of the Madras were drawn to it for the quality of its groundwater. Of course, there were other reasons, but they are beyond the scope of this article.
In 1960s, the Adambakkam lake was a water source for residents of Nanganallur and surrounding areas. Veerangal Odai, near Vanuvampet, would help replenish the groundwater table.
In those days, in Nanganallur, water was available at a depth of ten feet. During the rainy season, water in most open wells would be just a stretched arm away. Now, in most parts of Nanganallur, sinking borewells up to a depth of 500 feet does not yield water. Veerangal Odai now resembles a dumping ground and Adambakkma lake has shrunk considerably due to encroachments. The establishment of MRTS stations — and now Metro Station stations too — near Nanganallur has led to ‘concretisation’ of the locality. As the locality has been growing vertically, water levels has been plummeting.
Most of the individual houses in Nanganallur have now been converted into multi-storey apartment complexes. On an average, 10-unit complexes are raised in plots that had just one individual house. Due to increasing population, Metrowater finds it difficult to meet the locality’s water demands.
Residents rely on Palar water, which is supplied only once in a week. At the height of summer, Metrowater supplies Palar water to residents only once in 15 or 20 days.
Traffic congestion
Besides water scarcity, traffic congestion is a major problem for residents of Nanganallur. Even in the interior streets, movement of vehicles is sluggish, largely due to haphazard parking of vehicles on both sides of the stretch. For instance, Nanganallur First Main Road is lined up with many commercial complexes and government offices, which results in haphazard parking. Heavy vehicles, including MTC buses pass through the stretch, putting the the life and limb of pedestrians in jeopardy.