Despite having good monsoon and almost-to-brim rivers/lakes all around Chennai, safe drinking water is still a distant dream for Chennaites.

It’s actually a booming business for the mushrooming drinking water supply companies in Chennai, which supply bottled-water (UV-treated) of various volumes to the denizens. Is this water safe for consumption? Will they protect them from water-born diseases?

Arun Sharma, a resident of Alacrity flats in Mogappair West, feels that the water, supplied from these companies is ‘not safe’ and alleges that these companies, to get extended profit margin, don’t even follow the purification process.

‘Most of the bottles are old; some even damaged and don’t have stickers giving details of the manufacturers and quality standard specification etc. Even worst, I have noticed and complained to our caretaker about pasting of some other company’s sticker on other’s bottle. One my neighbours found tadpoles inside the water. So, we doubt the quality of the drinking water. We boil the canned water before using it for cooking and drinking purposes. Though this makes our monthly water bill costlier but we cannot take a chance. We spend around Rs 1,000 per month on water,’ he rues.

Recently, the city administration has banned a few water-bottling units in and around Chennai for not complying with the rules lay down by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS). But, still, many companies around the southern metro are still floating norms and making huge mullahs.

It’s shame that the city like Chennai, which boosts itself as one of the ‘leading metros’ of the country, still doesn’t have effective water supplying system. Not all residents are lucky to get metro water at their kitchen taps. There are certain ‘posh’ areas where the Chennai Corporation has made arrangements to give metro water connection even to high-rise apartments. In some areas like Kodambakkam, Choolaimedu, residents get water though hand pumps or through water lorries. The worst part is that in some developing areas like Mogappair, the basic infrastructure like potable water and good road are still a distant dream for residents, who have purchased their flats not less than Rs 20 lakhs.

For example, in Alacrity flats, the first multi-story to come up in this part of the city way back in 1995, ground water is red in colour. The association treats the bore water and supplies to the residents. There is no metro water supply to this sprawling area of Chennai, which is under the control of Ambattur Municipality. Resident’s associations have to buy water through lorries by paying high premium to fill up their sumps.

Obviously, the cost of maintenance in these flats has gone up and residents, who already under severe stress due to prevailing high rent, have to bear the brunt of the additional water bill.

But again, who bothers? The city is growing leaps and bounds. But for the basic things like transport, water, power and roads, people have to struggle hard and compromise for substandard life style.

Thanks to people’s high degree of patient level, the corporation or municipality doesn’t even feel fit to improve the living condition of these residents.

As the say goes in Tamil, ‘Only crying child will get milk’, unless people voice their rights, nothing is going to change in our ‘Singara’ Chennai even after 50 years.

It’s a great irony that to cross a distance of about 350 kilometers from Chennai to Bangalore by road, the drivers have to cough up a toll tax, not once or twice, but at five different places.

The sudden increase of travel cost has resulted in a steep rise (almost double) of ticket prices in buses and charted vehicles plying between these two southern cities.

There is no dispute that National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has been doing a commendable job of maintaining the road. To realize the construction and maintenance expenses, the NHAI is charging from the road users.

But five toll centers for such a short distance is too much, feel many commuters from Inter-state bus terminus in Chennai and Bangalore.

As the public outcry to this issue is conspicuously absent, the exploitation by the central authority continues. The common man is now left with no option but to pay the hefty charge of Rs 200 to visit either of the two cities. However, the train fare to Chennai or Bangalore stands less than Rs 100.

Earlier travellers used to prefer roadways over train due to convenient timing of buses and less ticket fare. However, due the sudden hike of ticket prices by both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu state buses, many of them now turn to trains; by somehow placing themselves in the crowded ‘unreserved’ compartments.

The worst hit are the weekend travellers, as majority of them working in one city, want to visit the other side to be with their family.

On the contrary, the NHAI, which maintains the 250-km-long national highway between Delhi and Chandigarh, charges a toll tax only once. But here too, the construction of five-lane roads would ultimately end up commuters paying more tax in the coming days.

Again who cares? In the absence of opposition from public, press and like-minded agencies, the toll bridges across Chennai-Bangalore continue to take heavy toll on the hapless commuters’ pockets.

Is any one listening?

‘Soon, one-way traffic movement will be introduced in busy roads of Chennai. The State Government and the Chennai City Police have decided to make commuting in the Metro a motorist-friendly experience by regulating movement of traffic.’

What a great move by the City’s so-called ‘thinkers’ to make the ‘City of Chaos’ even more chaotic. This shows the lack of ‘proactive’ thinking by the city’s bigwigs, who always try to find a ‘quick-fix’ solution to any civic issue.

Here onwards people would have to travel more in the city to reach their destinations and thereby up their travel bills. The government’s decision would also increase the state’s petroleum consumption and hence add more burden on India’s oil needs in the international market. The decision would also have a staggering impact on state’s economy.

When cities like Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune and Bangalore are planning ahead of 10 years by constructing more bridges and roads, this southern metropolis is talking in terms of taking the city backward.

Already most of the multinational companies in Chennai are ruing for poor ‘infrastructure’ and thinning of profit margins due to heavy travel costs etc, the decision to make most of city roads ‘one-way’ would only scare them away to nearby states which have better infrastructure like roads and rail links to ship their products to various places within India and abroad.

Already several roads such as Arcot road connecting Kodambakkam and Vadapalani and Kodambakkam Bridge to Anna Flyover had been made as one way zone long ago giving more inconvenience to commuters during peak time.

People have been witnessing the congestion on the Kodambakkam High Road/ Bridge since four decades. What the subsequent governments (DMK or AIADMK) have done to de-congest the city roads other than fighting among themselves for power?

The Kodambakkam Bridge connects important places in Chennai like Ashok Nagar, Saligramam, Virugambakkam, Porur and Poonamalli, which even links southern cities like Bangalore. Same with the case of T Nagar, the shopping hub of the city.

Instead of making roads only for one-way movement of vehicles, the government should broaden all city roads by removing encroachments and illegal constructions. Several roads are unfit even for pedestrian use; they should be repaired and tarred. For this task, private parties should be engaged to avoid pilferage of public funds.

The money collected through road tax from vehicle users should be properly utilized to repair roads. Effective drainage system should be constructed along the roads so as to avoid waterlogging during rainy seasons, which is the major cause of road damage.

The corporation can even take over some of the residential areas for construction of alternate routes to regulate traffic by paying adequate compensation to the owners of building or plots. These people should also be given alternate land or house in an area, which has adequate civic facilities.

If the government really wants to solve the ever-growing traffic problems in the city and make the city a truly ‘world class’ one as being claimed by some of the political leaders, they should call up top architects of India to design the ‘Modern Chennai’ instead of relaying on the ‘incompetent’ and ‘corrupt’ officials of the Corporation and Municipality.