The Mettur - P&T Colony stretch of the Podanur-Chettipalayam Road, on the southern side of the divider, is damaged.
At more than three places, the newly-laid bitumen topping is off the surface, exposing the underlying blue metal. The surface at the damaged portions has also sunk.
Podanur resident Nandhakumar says the damage occurred within two months of the road getting rebuilt.
The most inconvenienced are the residents of Sriram Nagar, Arul Murugan Nagar, Eshwar Nagar, P&T Colony and a few other localities, who use it every day to reach their work places.
The damage near the P&T Colony is so bad that the dust that gets generated by passing vehicles reaches the shops and offices nearby. “I've been having a tough time because of the dust,” says C. Kumar, who has rented an office in a complex nearby.
It is not just the dust that is the problem. Stones that come under the wheels of speeding vehicles fly well into their shops, complains two-wheeler mechanic K. Manikandan. There have also been instances of the bumpers of cars getting damaged while passing over the sunken portions.
The residents say the stretch of the Podanur-Chettipalayam Road got damaged during the summer showers in May and South West Monsoon rains in the early part of June. And, the road condition turned worse after Corporation dug up a portion to check leakage in drinking water pipeline.
Corporation officials say after leaks were reported in the decade-old distribution lines, they dug up a portion and closed those.
It is now for the Highways Department to repair the damaged road.
The residents add that it is not enough if the department just repairs the damage, it should also demand accountability from the contractor who laid the road in such a condition that the surface has come off and sunk at the stretch.
Asked about the damage to the road, Highways Department officials say they will look into it and set right the stretch.
