CHENNAI: Reflecting Chennai's voting pattern, the two newly formed corporations of Tambaram and Avadi have given the DMK a comfortable lead.
In Tambaram, DMK and its allies Congress and CPI (M) won 54 of the 70 wards. The AIADMK won nine seats and independents bagged the rest.
In Avadi, the DMK won 39 of the 48 wards. The AIADMK secured only three seats and independents won four wards in the municipal corporation, which has 4.4 lakh voters.
Residents from both the corporations want facilities on a par with the Greater Chennai Corporation. They don't even have an online grievance redress mechanism or tax payment portals now.
"We hope the newly elected councillors will expedite the long-pending projects in Avadi. The corporation has kept road, drinking water and sewage network works incomplete in most areas for years," said T Sadagopan, a resident-activist from Pattabiram. For instance, the corporation last week announced that it needs another three years to complete the underground sewage system in left-out areas.
Besides these basic issues, it will be great if the councillors help with generating more revenue and employment through new industrial projects and upcoming TIDEL Park project, Sadagopan said. It will be better if it can be upgraded like Tambaram Corporation by amalgamating nearby areas such as Thirunindravur and Thiruverkadu, he added.
However, such an upgrade has brought them more troubles, say Tambaram residents. "The corporation is facing a huge financial crisis now and has kept payments for contractors pending," said R Govindarajan from Federation of Residents Welfare Associations in Tambaram.
Some areas such as Chrompet and Pallavaram have better civic amenities compared to Madambakkam, Sembakkam, Rajakilpakkam and Peerkankarani. The corporation needs more funds to develop these areas and the Mayor should act fairly to all the residents here, he said.
