SWD work on a section of Nageswara Rao Park bring new issues

‘There was no consultation with residents’

Sridhar Venkataraman, resident of East Abhiramapuram Second Street, weighs in with his comments about the SWD work around Luz Avenue and further: “The size of the stormwater drains being constructed leave one in no doubt about the magnitude of the project. The natural gradient for flow of rainwater is towards Luz Church Road. The SWD project is taking the opposite direction, moving from Luz Church Road, cutting through Nageswara Rao Park and entering Ramachandras Road and Justice Sundaram Road on its onward journey towards the Canal. Given that ambitious nature of the design it naturally cuts deep, the trenches being dug deep. For a project so massive, the lack of consultation before the project began left residents mystified and disappointed. Justice Sundaram Road becomes messy after a slight downpour. Residents feel they are on treacherous ground. Recently, there was a report of a motorcyclist slipping into the trench.”

A huge pit filled with sewage

What lay in front of his apartment, L. Ram Gopal would not have seen as a “frontispiece” to his apartment on Luz Avenue, not in his wildest dreams. But there it was, a huge pit filled with gooey, inky-dark sewage -- that is the first thing any visitor would see while entering Saraswathi Apartments. On September 18, 2024, Ram Gopal was standing next to the pit tut-tutting in his mind over what caused it. The pit was of recent origin. It had been dug up to further the stormwater drain work, noticeable in Nageswara park located opposite the apartment complex. The workers had not bargained for the sewage that leaked in and filled up the pit.

Ram Gopal said the workers remarked that no CMWSSB pipeline was ruptured, the leak just happened. Is this a sign of what is to follow in the days to come, when the SWD work would move into Ramachandra Road and then enter Justice Sundaram Road whose bowels are already exposed on account of SWD construction. Ramachandra Road being narrow, any such mischance can prove hugely inconvenient to residents.

Published - September 21, 2024 09:13 pm IST