According to a public perception survey, conducted by The Times of India, on quality of life, ward 118 -which includes Poes Garden, Venus Colony, former chief minister M Karunanidhi's locality Gopalapuram, and other posh parts of Alwarpet - is ranked 60.
The question is: Does this reflect government apathy or is just that its residents complain far too much?
One of the surprise findings was that residents who live in the most expensive neighbourhoods are not necessarily satisfied with their quality of life. Ward 118 ranked its satisfaction on every parameter-safety, public transport, water, sanitation, power and open spaces-between 2.1 and 2.8 on a scale of five.
Though Teynampet (Zone 9) comes in second overall, many of its wards have ranked themselves lower on the scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being the highest. The Corporation has divided the 15 zones of the city into 200 wards, with each ward comprising a few streets. Chennai Patrol went ward by ward to ask residents to rank their quality of life on six parameters.
Other seemingly posh neighbourhoods fared no better than Poes Garden. Ward 111-Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Rutland Gate, Wallace Garden, and other localities with sky-high real estate prices-were even unhappier. The ward, also part of Teynampet zone, came in at 74th place, giving themselves scores ranging from 1.8 to 2.9.
So, if the quiet, tree-lined roads with mansions have unsatisfied residents, which is the best place to live in? Turns out, it's ward 52 in the heart of Royapuram, one of the oldest parts of north Chennai, known for air pollution linked to coal handling in the port. Residents ranked themselves highly (more than 4 on 5) on safety and public transport, saying bus services were frequent and it is safe for women and at night.
But, many of its residents are surprised by the findings. "Debris is dumped on either side of Cemetery Road, and Model Lines is dirty and unsafe," said G Arun Kumar, who has lived in Sengalvarayan Street in the ward for more than 25 years. "People drink on the main road and smoke in Robinson Park," said K Kabir, a resident of Anjeneyapuram in ward 52.
Even Chennai Corporation officials are baffled. "This is news to me," said a senior officer of Royapuram zone. A senior corporation official said Nungambakkam, Greenways Road and Poes Garden have been given every civic amenity because of the VIP residents. "We ensure that garbage is cleared twice a day, roads are without potholes and water supply is 24 hours," said a senior corporation official.
Officials suspect that it is the educated cry babies in the posh areas who take facilities for granted and expect more. "Many places like Adyar, Alwarpet and T Nagar have resident activists who look for avenues to criticise us," said a former conservancy worker from Adyar zone.
So, what makes residents of ward 52 in Royapuram and ward 40 (Old Washermenpet) in Tondiarpet, which is the third best locality to live in, happier?
"We have been focusing a lot of ward 40, which is dominated by slums," said a corporation official from Tondiarpet zone. "We widened their roads, erected street lights and checked sewage overflow," he said. "Maybe the residents were expressing their gratitude. This motivates us to work harder," he added.
Defending their activism is residents' associations who say they have brought about major improvements in their areas. "If residents ranked ward 181 in Adyar, where Kalakshetra Colony is located, the 17th best area to live in, it is because we have fought for two new parks, daily garbage clearance and re-laying of interior roads," says Shanthi Krishnan, vice-president of Kalakshetra Colony Welfare Association.
Source: http://to.ly/mdIT
