Tamil Nadu election 2026: Fast-booming Sholinganallur constituency still struggles with basic amenities

S. Vatsala, 55, is busy mixing soda with lemon juice to serve her customers on the 200-feet Radial Road in Pallikaranai in Sholinganallur. As she hands over the drink, she notes that nothing much has changed for her in the last 45 years that she has been in the area. “My house continues to get flooded every monsoon and as there are no proper storm water drains in our area in Pallikarnai. It takes over two days for the water to recede,” she said. 

She came to Pallikarnai in the 1990s when the water quality was good and there was no interruption in availing drinking water. “Now we have a lorry coming in and sometimes when it doesn’t, we’ll have to walk at least a kilometer to get drinking water from a pipe,” she noted.