Velachery-based Ananth never forgets to take a 2-litre water bottle everytime he visits the Mambalam market along with his son. This software professional is not carrying water to cool his car radiator, but to wash the dirt off the feet of his four-year-old son, after walking through the slushy Railway Border Street.
“The condition of this street, dotted with vegetable and fruit shops on both sides, has remained the same for the last 20 years,” claims Ananth, who was a long-time resident of Thyagaraya Nagar, before moving to Velachery. “Despite having shifted six years ago, availability of fresh vegetables at a reasonable price still attracts me to Mambalam,” he added.
The Railway Border Street, sandwiched between the Mambalam railway station and its bylanes, also has shopping complexes and over 200 shops that sell fruits, vegetables and other consumables like betel leaves and nuts.
When vendors dump unsold vegetables on the street, it creates an unbearable stench. The rainwater gets mixed with the rotten vegetables making the stretch slushy.
Moreover, the street has not been done up for several years, making things worse, the vendors allege.
This causes untold hardship to visitors to the market, who are forced to measure every step they take.
A Narayanan of Nanganallur says the street will be a mess during the monsoon season. “It is difficult to walk along the slushy path during this time. It’s really frightening to take a stroll,” he adds. Railway Border Street, which had a few vegetable shops that functioned in thatched huts in 1950, now has a full-fledged fruit and vegetable market.
The Mambalam market sells fresh green vegetables procured from villages surrounding Tambaram, Chengapattu, Madhuranthakam and Melmaruvathur in the neighbouring Kanchipuram district.
According to Velmurugan, a vendor, absence of a dumping facility forces them to dump the unsold vegetables on the street.
When contacted, an official of the Chennai Corporation said that the street would be re-laid with concrete after the monsoon.
On garbage being strewn on the street, the official said, waste is being cleared every day at midnight.
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