Until a few months ago, the 500-metre-long stretch between an Amma Canteen and the Nesapakkam Sewage Treatment Plant of Chennai Metrowater on Anna Main Road in K.K. Nagar was an eyesore. It would be littered with regular garbage and construction debris. The stretch would also be lined with damaged vehicles including autorickshaws and lorries.
With Greater Chennai Corporation swinging into action, the stretch is now free of encroachments. This redemptive exercise is part of an effort to ensure unhindered access to the newly-opened Link Road in Nesapakkam from Anna Main Road in K.K. Nagar.
Interestingly, with this stretch of Anna Main Road becoming wide, especially the section in front of the sewage treatment plant, it is being used as drinking water filling point by Chennai Metrowater. “To de-congest the premises of the treatment plant and to save time in refilling, we extended the water pumps towards the compound wall of the plant. By using the space in this manner, encroachment of the vacant space on the stretch are being prevented,” says a Metrowater official.
Residents and motorists have welcomed the joint efforts by the civic body and the Chennai Metrowater in restoring the key stretch. Earlier, for over a decade, Anna Main Road, which connects Nesapakkam with K.K. Nagar via Udayam Theatre, was dug up for laying of drainage and water pipelines by Metrowater. As a result, the usable part of the road was sandy; the work was being carried out in the middle of the stretch.
Only last year, the work was completed and the stretch was re-laid, to the relief of residents and motorists. There were a few cave-ins on the stretch after it was re-laid. This was mainly due to improper levelling of the stretch with sand and blue metal after the completion of pipe-laying work.
