In his fifties, Aiyaswamy Prabhakaran, suffered an injury as he slipped and fell into a dry open stormwater channel, near the culvert on Nolambur Main Road in Mogappair.
The carriageway, especially near the culvert, is uneven. Prabhakaran appealed to other residents in the neighbourhood to resolve this issue.
However, before they could act on it, the lockdown came into effect. When lockdown restrictions were eased by the State government recently, residents ran a campaign on WhatsApp and a few social media platforms highlighting the need to construct steel railings to prevent further accidents.
Nolambur Main Road and Link Road connects residents in Mogappair and Nolambur with those in Maduravoyal and Valasaravakkam via the service lane below the Chennai Bypass Road.
“The narrow bend near the culvert connecting the main Road and the Link Road has always been a risky spot. When we received repeated complaints about it, we decided to address it,” says 57-year-old TV Radhakrishnan, secretary, Jeevan Bhima Nagar Residents Welfare Association.
With the support of the Rotary Club of Chennai Mogappair and the Greater Chennai Corporation, residents of Jeevan Bhima Nagar, Golden George Nagar, LIC Colony and Nolambur constructed a 'L' shaped steel railings between the culvert and the Link Road, a distance of around 300 metres. They received the necessary permission from GCC to carry out this work. The entire work was completed in a week.
Other initiatives
In the past too, Jeevan Bhima Nagar has displayed its community spirit.
Last year, it provided free food and safety kits including face masks to frontline workers.
Residents also chipped in by providing dry rations worth ₹3,000 each to 60 workers who are with them, and also to frontline staff.