Less than a month after it was laid, a portion of the bitumen-topped Padi Kuppam Main Road in Mogappair caved in. Officials of Zone – 7 (Ambattur) of Chennai Corporation said that improper levelling of the stretch before the bitumen-topping was carried out, could be the reason for the caving-in.
With monsoon hitting the city, residents think the road will disintegrate. “For years, we have waited for a bitumen stretch. We finally got one, and now we discover it to be substandard,” said S. Prem, a resident of Mogappair.
The road was re-laid after a decade-long struggle by residents of the neighbourhood. In fact, residents like Chidambaram were one of the few who spearheaded the campaign by writing to various officials. Petitions were sent to the councillor, the assistant engineer, zonal office, the Commissioner, the Mayor, the MLA and finally the CM’s cell before work was taken up.
Resolutions were passed at monthly residents’ welfare association meetings. Regular street corner meetings were held to highlight the problems faced by hundreds of residents that arose from having a sandy stretch for a road.
In recent years, the population on the stretch has increased manifold with the construction of a series of high-rise apartment complexes. On an average, each new apartment complex on the stretch has at least 400 families. Further, the stretch is an alternative route for residents in the neighbourhood and adjoining areas like Padi, Ambattur, Nolambur, Mogappair, to reach Koyambedu and Padi without taking the congested Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Main Road. “We will carry out a road-strengthening exercise by identifying weak spots, which were not levelled properly. And then, the road would be re-laid at the earliest,” said a Corporation official.
