Residents organise dharna against lack of civic amenities in 14th ward in Vellore

Residents of 14th ward near Katpadi town held a day-long dharna to protest lack of civic amenities. 5,000 residents suffer from poor roads, no piped water, no underground drainage, and inadequate street lights. Despite petitions, no action taken. Mayor Sujatha Anandakumar promised to address residents' plight soon.

A day-long dharna was organised by residents of 14th ward near Katpadi town on Sunday against lack of civic amenities including piped water supply, proper roads, underground drainage system and adequate street lights.

The residents said that areas like Radhakrishnan Nagar, Variyar Nagar, Durai Nagar, A.C. Mottur, Osipattammal Nagar, Sairam Nagar and Vivekananda Road came under 14th ward of the civic body.

Despite thickly populated residential areas with around 5,000 residents, the ward had been neglected all these years. “Due to slushy roads in most of these areas, school students and senior citizens get hurt often. With the northeast monsoon, the civic condition in the ward will turn worse,” said K. Ranganathan, president, Ward 14 Residents Welfare Association.

At present, pipelines for underground drainage systems have been laid in these areas under the Smart Cities Project. Prior to the drainage pipeline work, residents said the existing water pipeline in the ward was damaged when civic workers laid new drainage pipelines. Till then, residents were receiving water under the Hogenakkal combined drinking water project for many years. The damaged water pipelines were not repaired by the Corporation. Also, new connections for underground drainage were also not given as the sewage treatment plant in the area was incomplete.

“Vivekananda Road in the ward is the main thoroughfare for more than 600 students. The 700-metre-long road remains a sandy stretch for many years and gets waterlogged during every monsoon. Many students get hurt while using the stretch on their way to school and return home,” a resident said.

Stray dogs and cattle were another civic woes in the ward. Despite mass sterilisation for stray dogs was done in other wards, such an effort had not been carried out in their ward since December 2022. Also, most of the dairy farmers in V.C. Mottur and Viruthampattu villages left their cattle for grazing in nearby farmlands. However, most of the cattle roamed into residential areas in the 14th ward due to uncleared garbage at street corners.

Repeated petitions to Corporation officials, ward councilor Shanmughaeshwari, Mayor Sujatha Anandakumar and the Vellore Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian had not yielded any results so far, the residents claimed.