Chennai: Medavakkam neglected, lacks civic amenities

CHENNAI: Sandwiched between Chennai and Tambaram corporations and located just 5km from Chennai city limits, Medavakkam village panchayat lacks every basic amenity in the book. The city’s longest flyover was recently inaugurated here, but the panchayat with a population of about one lakh still does not have an underground sewerage system.
A Sathik Basha, a resident, said, “We depend on borewell water as there is no regular water supply pipelines or other sources. The lack of sewage system has resulted in sewage entering groundwater and contaminating it. A lot of apartment complexes and townships have come up in the past five years which has only put more burden on the area,” he said.
The panchayat was earlier under Kancheepuram and is now under Chengalpet. Several petitions for morethan a decade have not led to any action. It comes under the St Thomas Mount panchayat union and Sholinganallur constituency.
Arjun Shankar, social activist from Medavakkam, said all the storm water drains that link to the Perumbakkam lake take sewage from households. “There is no proper solid waste management and in the entire Medavakkam there is not even one bus shelter,” he said.
The panchayat that has many factories, industries, and residential complexes, requires at least basic water pipeline, sewerage connection and a waste management facility, Sathik said.
The panchayat secretary and the president could not be reached for comment. An official said lack of funds and manpower was a major reason for not developing the panchayat. “The government has to give funds and ensure proper development in villages and towns around Chennai as they are urbanising fast and the civic amenities don’t seem to catch up with it,” said the official.