Social media sometimes does give sound advice. A couple of days ago, someone had asked friends to go check the real estate, which they planned to buy just after the rain, to find out the level of flooding. A piece of advice that holds water for all the properties off Rajiv Gandhi Salai, where investments have never gone hand in hand with infrastructure development.
Places such as Sholinganallur, Semmancheri, Navalur, and Siruseri that are at the heart of the city’s information technology hub lack good infrastructure. “When these properties were purchased, people paid development charges to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) hoping that they would get good roads, street lights, drinking water supply and sewers. At least half of these areas that were with small panchayats once were handed over to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). After it took over, we have been paying property and water taxes — to no avail. The various laws mandate the GCC to direct Tangedco to disconnect power connections if property owners do not pay taxes. We still depend on water tankers and sewage lorries,” says Harsha Koda, co-founder, Federation of OMR Residents Associations.
