Now, accidents on Porur – Kundrathur Main Road (which is State Highway — 113) has become alarmingly frequent. Some of the accidents in recent times have been fatal.
This six-km stretch between Porur and Kundrathur, maintained by the State Highways Department, is ridden with potholes. Residents of Gerugambakkam, Mogalivakkam, Kovur, Kollachery, Arambedu, Erumaiyur, Kavanoor, Kolambakkam, Poothandalam and Vaipoor use the Porur–Kundrathur Main Road.These include children taking the stretch to reach schools at Porur and Valasaravakkam.
Villagers also use the stretch while taking their farm produce to the wholesale market in Koyambedu. The sodium-vapour lamps on the stretch burn dim and some of them have run their course. Motorists rely on the headlights of their vehicles to negotiate the stretch. For most past of its course, especially between Gerugambakkam and Kundrathur, the road lacks a concrete median.
Moreover, safety mechanisms such as speed-breakers with reflectors, signboards indicating sharp bends are missing.
On an average, two accidents are reported every week. Two narrow curves in Periyapanichery and a sharp bend near Minerva International School are the most accident-prone sections of the stretch.
Garbage and construction debris are dumped along the main carriageway. “With many residential colonies coming up on this section, traffic on Porur–Kundrathur Main Road is heavy. This is also partly because it connects to the busy Arcot Road. Also, this stretch provides the shortest route to reach the Bangalore Highway (NH 04) via Kundrathur and many MTC buses ply on this stretch. So, it has now become difficult to walk on the road and a pedestrian patth has to laid on the stretch,” says K. Chandran, a resident of Kovur.
“Steps will be taken to improve the condition of the stretch soon,” says a State Highways official.
