With the Tamil Nadu and the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) Budget announcements fast approaching, some Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have put forth a charter of expectations, urging the authorities to focus on long-pending basic infrastructure works.
Harsha Koda of the Federation of OMR Resident Associations (FOMRRA) alleged that residents of Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) had been waiting for more than 15 years for basic civic amenities such as piped water supply and underground sewage connections. He said many roads also lack proper stormwater drains (SWD), citing the Model School Road in Sholinganallur, where nearly 7,000 apartments lack a functional SWD system, resulting in frequent flooding during the monsoon.
Across the OMR stretch, which has an estimated one lakh apartments, stormwater drains have been laid only in a few smaller lanes and remain largely unconnected, making them incapable of handling heavy or continuous rainfall, he said. Mr. Koda further said that despite repeated budgetary allocations for stormwater and drainage projects by the Tamil Nadu government and the GCC since 2016, implementation has been inadequate.
He added that Sholinganallur, a key part of Chennai’s IT corridor and a major contributor through property and sales taxes, has not received commensurate infrastructure investment to address these long-pending issues.
