more-in Tempos carrying cans of water are a common sight in Madurai due to the crippling water scarcity stalking the city. On the streets of Subramaniapuram, however, tempo travelling is a tight squeeze. S. P. Kamatchipandian, a tea shop owner in ward 87, says that the roads have not been developed as per need. There has not been much improvement as he feels that the area is largely ignored by the Corporation. Subramaniapuram 1st cross street and 4th cross street, in particular, face problems. Several others concur. V. Paramasivam, a resident of the area for 30 years, says that the congested roads and potholes cause greater stress to the residents. The all-pervasive water problem too contributes to the area’s daily distress. “We have approached Madurai Central MLA P. T. R. Palanivel Thiagarajan’s secretary. He said the issue would be looked into. We have nowhere to go for water,” he says. Residents of the area feel that many of the community water tanks remain dry because trucks and tempos find it difficult to manoeuvre through the small lanes. Responding to the woes of the citizens, Mr. Palanivel Thiagarajan says that day-to-day issues faced by wards will not change unless the civil poll is held. He feels that negligence and infrastructural errors are the primary causes of Madurai’s water problems. He has assured that he would look into the issues but cannot promise change. “The last seminal infrastructural development in the city with respect to water preservation, channelling and control was carried out in 1908,” he says. Residents of Subramaniapuram say that their area’s problems have been central to the city’s history. It is largely believed that the deity at Tiruparankundram Subramaniaswamy Temple used to stop and bless the residents of the area prior to the ‘Tirukalyanam’ of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar. What was once a mandapam, became a Siva temple. This has now become a Kaliamman temple. Archaeologist V. Vedachalam says that ‘puram’ was usually suffixed to names of places to indicate that a portion of the tax collected from the village went to the temple. The Villapuram main tank and a smaller tank fed water to the homes in the area. However, they have now disappeared. After independence, the locality gained notoriety for rowdyism. Since the dawn of the millennium , the area has donned a more peaceful exterior as crimes no longer take place in the morning and street lights are functional. P. Amudha, another resident, states that she used to be afraid of stepping out 10 years ago in the locality’s main road -- Subramaniapuram 3rd street. She no longer feels that way as street lights have been provided. The amenities in the area have improved and dustbins are in place. The area has a government higher secondary school with about 220 students. It also has a small market that caters for the residents of the ward for the past 30 years. M. Vijay, a student of Pasumalai High School, feels that a library will light the place up. The Assistant Engineer Thiagarajan was unavailable for comment regarding the problems when The Hindu attempted to get in touch.

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