Chennai: Depts do their work, leave roads battered

Chennai: Common woes like potholes and water stagnation are likely in Ambattur Industrial Estate Road, Kundrathur Main Road, Vadapalani 100 feet road and Anna Nagar 3rd Avenue junction road with roads remaining unlaid after they were dug up by various government departments for various purposes.

Roads in various localities of the city that were dug up for underground cable wire work, for laying sewage lines, electricity cables and Metro Water lines were only left damaged after the completion of the work, causing inconvenience to commuters.

Ambattur Industrial Estate Road and Kundrathur Main Road were dug up for laying underground cable wire more than six months ago, but the road was not re-laid. “Kundrathur Main Road was laid only six months ago, but it was soon scraped off for laying wires by TNEB personnel. The construction led to the seepage of drainage in the constructed cable lanes, and it has now become a pool of sewage water on the main road,” says V. Shanti, a resident of Kundrathur.

Drinking water in the area gets mixed with the sewage water and forces residents to shell out extra money on buying drinking water, which they could earlier source from wells nearby, she added.

Motorists on Ambattur Industrial Estate (AIE) Road, face traffic congestion on an daily basis since last six months due to slow pace of cable wire laying work on the main road. Even after repeated complaints, neither the traffic police nor the civic bodies act upon them to rectify the problem.

“Various minor accidents take place daily on the road, it is mostly two-wheelers that skid over the debris of the construction work. Motorists find it difficult to commute. Heavy load vehicles pass through the same road, worsening its condition. The entire stretch is filled with huge potholes, and the road is very unsafe for motorists at night,” an auto-driver at One India Bulls Park.

When contacted, officials from TNEB said work is on a periodical halt and the roads will be re-laid once the construction work is completed.

Several stretches such as Anna Nagar Twelfth Main Road, Anna Nagar Third Avenue and Shanti Colony Main Road need the attention of authorities as these roads damaged during last monsoon need extensive repairs. The damaged road affects the free flow of traffic due to numerous potholes, and would be a center of water stagnation during monsoon if not repaired.

“The road connecting Spartan Nagar with Anna Nagar Third Avenue near telephone exchange was dug up for carrying out some underground wire laying work by BSNL, but even after a month of the completion of cable laying work, the road has not been restored to its original condition,” said G. Jeeva.

When contacted, BSNL officials said the state transport authorities have permitted them to carry out the work for several areas in the city. “We will be paying for the restoration of the road and authorities will carry out the repair works after the completion of the work on all the stretches in the city,” said the official.