A swanky looking Iyyapanthangal Metro Rail station stands tall on Mount-Poonamallee Road. But one look at its backyard exposes the lacunae in civic infrastructure as many residents of Iyyapanthangal still lack access to piped drinking water facility and underground sewerage system.
A mass rapid transit system, considered a hallmark for development, has been established while some of the basic amenities still remain a distant dream. This reality holds good not just for Iyyapanthangal but also for quite a few areas in the Alandur Assembly Constituency.
Electoral history
Former Chief Minister and AIADMK party founder M. G. Ramachandran embarked on his political career from ‘Parangimalai’ constituency that was later merged with Alandur. The area that voted him to power, later swung between the two major Dravidian parties back and forth, and has been a stronghold of the DMK for the last decade.
Along with DMK, AIADMK, and the Naam Tamilar Katchi, this time, with the new entrant in the political fray, film star C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, the constituency is set to witness an interesting four-cornered battle.
Starting from Nanganallur, Adambakkam, Manapakkam, Iyyapanthangal, Gerugambakkam, Kolapakkam, Mugalivakkam, Moulivakkam, the area sprawls over all the way to Paraniputhur and Periyapanicheri.
While densely populated areas like Nanganallur, Adambakkam, Palavanthangal, Manapakkam buzz with activity and are home to middle and upper middle-class population, the farther parts of the constituency like Kovur, Thandalam, Gerugambakkam, Moulivakkam have turned into affordable destinations for new home buyers and the IT workers. The intense urban character of the constituency which is reflected in Adambakkam or Nanganallur gradually wanes as one touches Paraniputhur or Peripanicheri.
“Facilities such as piped drinking water and underground drainage systems should have reached the residents of Iyyapanthangal and surrounding areas – Gerugambakkam, Periyapanicheri, Paraniputhur, Kovur, and Thandalam several years back. But we are yet to get it. Despite being a part of Chennai Metropolitan Area, these facilities are still missing,” social activist and a resident of Iyyapanthangal, Senthil Kumar says.
A. S. Govindhan, a resident of Periyapanicheri Road in Paraniputhur too says these issues have been there ever since he moved into this area. He also adds that there are only a handful of buses plying via Paraniputhur.
Mr. Senthil Kumar notes that bus connectivity needs to be improved from Iyyapanthangal as well.
“There are no direct buses to the Kilambakkam Bus Terminus or the IT Corridor. A significant section of people from these areas commute to OMR for work and to the terminus when they leave town and there is a dire need to improve bus connectivity,” he adds.
But residents say road connectivity has remarkably improved in the last five years. Mr. Govindhan says, earlier the road connectivity was pretty poor when he moved into his apartment in 2017.
“It has significantly gotten better and most of the areas are well connected,” he adds.
While road connectivity has gotten better, R. Jagannathan, another resident of Paraniputhur says, the lifetime of some of the roads has been short-lived, and they get damaged too easily. Also, flooding occurs during the monsoon in quite a few areas in the constituency.
A view of the damaged service road in Kovur.
| Photo Credit:
B. Velankanni Raj
Stray cattle problems
These issues aside, in areas such as Iyyapanthangal, Gerugambakkam, Madhanandhapuram, Paraniputhur, Kovur, and Thandalam, residents say they also grapple with poor solid waste management and the presence of stray dogs and stray cattle.
The presence of stray cattle pose a threat to residents.
| Photo Credit:
B. Velankanni Raj
Meanwhile, in Nanganallur, residents have been asking for the laying of underground power cable for many years now, but it still has not been done. S. Chandrabose, president of Federation of Nanganallur Welfare Associations, says, this move will prevent power outages.
“We also want the Palavanthangal subway to be linked to the 5th Main Road but it is yet to be implemented. Though garbage collection has improved significantly, one of the major issues we have been dealing with is heavy traffic congestion, unorganised parking, encroachments, and lack of footpath,” he adds.
DMK sources said they had carried out a host of measures for the development of the constituency from building Thozhi Viduthigal, 2,200 roads, and stormwater drain facilities, EB station to six community halls, and bringing metro water pipelines. They also said, flood mitigation work was carried out and work is underway to build a mini stadium and to include metro water connectivity to the remaining areas.
Published – March 25, 2026 05:00 am IST
