With the Chennai Corporation coming under sharp criticism for poor road conditions in the city, the civic body has issued instructions to various government utilities to prevent indiscriminate road cuts.
A senior official of the Corporation said the primary reasons for road damage are digging by utility services for development work and water stagnation.
The issue has assumed primacy in the context of the upcoming Global Investors Meet in May, say Corporation officials.
Though there is a system for undertaking road cuts — for repairs or installation of infrastructure facilities — sometimes, workers dig up roads without the knowledge of civic authorities and this affects road quality.
The civic body has proposed to coordinate with utilities like Tangedco, Metrowater and other telephone operators to prevent digging up of the 197 roads that are proposed to be re-laid. A senior official of Tangedco said underground cable laying and other work would be undertaken on a war footing and completed soon.
Some of the arterial stretches that come under the 197 roads are: Tondiarpet High Road, Purasawalkam High Road, Police Commissioner’s Office Road, Anna Nagar 3rd Avenue, Triplicane High Road, Mandaveli Street, T.T.K. Road, Venkat Narayana Road, Velachery Main road and L.B. Road.
(With additional reporting by Aloysius Xavier Lopez)
Civic utilities have been asked to complete cable-laying and other road-related work by March
