Residents demand repairs to damaged roads after first phase of polls

With many of the interior roads in residential colonies badly damaged due to the ongoing underground drainage (UGD) projects in Tiruchi, residents hope for repairs after the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Tiruchi City Corporation, under three different phases — Phase II, Phase III, and the Smart Cities Mission — is implementing the project in 45 wards. Work is under way at Karumandapam, K.K. Nagar, Edamalaipattipudur, Woraiyur, Kattur, Tiruveumbur, Crawford, Bheema Nagar and Cantonment.

Although the work was initially scheduled to be completed in June 2023, the project has been delayed and is expected to be completed by June 2024.

Since the UGD works have been delayed for over a year, the roads have been reduced to a pathetic condition. Some of the newly laid roads in Puthur and Central Bus Stand areas have been damaged, and road users blame the poor quality of roads.

Residents hope that the civic body would relay the damaged roads soon after the first phase of polling instead of waiting for the entire poll process to end, considering the plight of the road users. “Interior roads that were dug up for laying sewer lines have not been properly covered or repaired. Residents are facing hardship in negotiating the roads by vehicles, especially two-wheelers,” said N. Jamaludeen, a resident of Anna Nagar.

A section of residents on Parupukkara Street in Palakkarai and Anna Salai in Kailash Nagar threatened to boycott the elections due to the poor condition of roads in their locality. They put up banners asking candidates not to come for campaigning and attempted to go on a hunger strike, but officials made efforts to relay the damaged roads.

When contacted, a senior Corporation official said road relaying works, which were tendered out before the announcement of elections, had not ceased. “The roads are being relaid soon after the UGD works are completed, and steps are being taken to monitor the progress,” the official said.

Around 250 km of the roads in the city would be relaid in the current fiscal and the civic body would also undertake patchwork on damaged roads, he added.