Chennai residents protest civic delays in Kodungaiyur, flag flood risk in Velachery

Residents in Chennai’s Kodungaiyur locality protested this week at the Perambur MLA’s office, demanding the timely completion of crucial civic infrastructure projects including roads, streetlights and a sewer network.

Locals said the delays in these basic infrastructure projects have persisted for an extended period, causing ongoing inconvenience to daily commuters and residents in the area.

In Velachery, residents separately raised concerns about flood risk stemming from a malfunctioning closed canal that has been causing water to flow backward into the neighbourhood during heavy rain.

Residents said the faulty canal infrastructure poses a significant safety threat, particularly given Chennai’s history of severe flooding during intense monsoon spells in recent years.

Both cases highlight a broader pattern of delayed civic development and infrastructure maintenance affecting several Chennai neighbourhoods.

Kodungaiyur residents said they have raised the same infrastructure concerns with local representatives on multiple previous occasions without seeing the promised work completed.

The Velachery canal issue reflects a broader concern shared by several Chennai neighbourhoods, where ageing stormwater drainage infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with the city’s urban growth.

No official timeline has yet been announced for either the Kodungaiyur infrastructure projects or repairs to the malfunctioning canal in Velachery.

Kodungaiyur falls under the Perambur assembly constituency in North Chennai, which is where the residents took their protest and demands for infrastructure completion this week.

Velachery, in South Chennai, is a rapidly developed residential and commercial hub, where the ageing closed canal system predates much of the area’s more recent growth in population and construction.

Chennai’s civic administration is managed by Greater Chennai Corporation, which oversees infrastructure works, drainage maintenance and road development across the city’s various zones, including both Kodungaiyur and Velachery.

Roads, streetlights and sewer networks of the kind residents in Kodungaiyur are demanding are typically funded through a mix of municipal budgets and state government infrastructure allocations, which can lead to delays when approvals span multiple departments.

Photo by Pinakpani, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0