Arappor Iyakkam claims corruption in road construction

Chennai: Arappor Iyakkam claimed to have brought out the evidence of wrongdoings in the construction of bus road routes by Greater Chennai Corporation and laying of a particular bus route road namely ‘Devanathan Street,’ in Mandaveli.

Following up on the construction of a 100 m stretch on Devanathan street for over a year and a half, Arappor stated that the road was re-laid as part of a '345 crore project approved by corporation council on March 23, 2015. The corporation council also approved a resolution to let contractors who lay the road to repair potholes on the same roads.

The RTI filed by Arappor Iyakkam shows that the construction of the road was completed on May 30, 2016, at a cost of Rs 36. 97 lakh by a private contractor engaged in Ambattur. In July 2016, a metro water road cut was performed on the stretch.

On September 24,  2016, patchwork was performed by another contractor in a work order of around Rs 2.25 lakh and the actual cost of Rs 2 lakh. The road was opened for all vehicles after the patchwork, increasing the height of the road,  contrary to the guidelines of the Bus Route Roadways (BRR) department.

However, BRR replied to the RTI stating that the private contractor raised an additional bill of Rs 26.5 lakh on December 3, 2016, which was 70 per cent of the original cost of laying of the road.

Arappor Iyakkam held the conference on Tuesday despite being asked not to do so fearing violence and alleged that there was no road laid in December 2016.

There is no reason behind road cut patchwork in December when a new road was laid in May and patchwork was completed in September. The road is full of potholes and suffers water stagnation also, despite the road warranty period being three years. The case is to be legally followed by Arappor Iyakkam.