Residents of several streets in Kancheepuram municipality, which is the largest in the district, are forced to put up with poor street lighting and damaged roads, besides inadequate drainage facilities.
Chennai:
With 51 wards, the Kancheepuram municipality is the biggest in the district. However, the residents of Pillaiyarpalaiyam, Hiderpet, Town Street, Krishnan Street, Vijayakami Street are suffering due to malfunctioning street lights.
R Ramanathan, a resident of the locality, said the municipality officials had been approached several times with a request to change the lights but to no avail.
“We are forced to walk in the dark at nights. Using this as an opportunity a few anti-social elements have begun consuming drinks in the open. They create trouble for passers-by,” he said.
The residents also claimed that the roads and the drainage lines were not maintained properly.
The road on which the Kancheepuram bus stop is located is in a very bad shape, thereby posing difficulties for motorists.
When contacted, Kancheepuram municipal engineer R Mahendran told DTNext that they had installed 17,000 street lights in total and they are maintained on contract basis.
“Most of the lights got damaged only last month following the rains. We will replace the malfunctioning lights once the fitness of the vehicle, which we use for the purpose, is certified by RTO authorities. It is likely to take a week’s time,” he said.