Miscreants make use of a defunct PDS building in R.A. Puram

A small portion of a Corporation playground, close to the intersection of Greenways Road, Ramakrishna Mutt Road, DGS Dhinakaran Salai and Durgabhai Deshmukh Road, is damaged.

Through this opening, miscreants gain access to a defunct public distribution system (PDS) outlet in R.A. Puram, which shares a wall with the playground. To put an end to this problem and also make use of the defunct outlet, residents want it to be converted into a branch library or any other facility that could serve the public.

According to residents, the unused PDS outlet, which makes up a triangular junction along with a Corporation-maintained gym, toilet and the afore-mentioned playground, has been a nuisance to visitors to the playground.

“From the playground, miscreants jump to the locked ration shop through the broken compound wall. They make a lot of racket. We are scared of spending time at the playground in the evening,” says S. Prema, a resident of R.A. Puram.

On an average, every day, the playground witnesses around 300 visitors. Many of them work out at the Corporation-run gym on the premises. During weekends, especially Sundays, the number of visitors doubles.

The sandy playground has a tiled footpath for walkers, a concrete basketball court, a volleyball court and a lot of open space.

Youngsters often use the open space at the playground to play cricket. The playground is well-guarded with a compound wall, a single entry and exit gate.

The ration shop was shut down as its presence was causing traffic snarls on that section. It was then relocated to a much calmer spot, a few hundred metres from the defunct ration shop. Since then, the unused PDS building has been lying idle with empty oil barrels in the backyard. With an overgrowth of thorny shrubs on its rear side, the defunct ration shop has become a den for anti-socials.

“The space belongs to the Civil Supplies Department of the State government. If they give it to us, we will into a facility for some other public service,” says a Corporation official.