Rains are back and so are the worries of residents living in various parts of the city, as gaping holes in several arterial roads force many to take detours to reach their destinations, especially on rainy evenings.
Mud and water stagnation on the roads are making it tough for motorists to drive, complain residents. “Sivaprakasam Salai beneath the Thennur road overbridge (ROB) near the Tangedco office is a narrow road passing through residential areas connecting Anna Nagar Link Road. It was made a one-way stretch in May and since then, buses and trucks which struggle to navigate the bends wreak havoc on the roads. Now, with the recent rains, the problem has worsened,” said Balakrishna Sarma, a resident of Anna Nagar. “The large potholes filled with rainwater pose a threat to two-wheelers and pedestrians; even those travelling on buses could be injured,” he added.
After digging up roads for laying water pipelines and cables, the civic body is taking its own time to re-lay them, some say. “For the last one year, the Corporation has been laying pipelines on these stretches and yet the work remains incomplete. At a few locations, they took up minor repair works but still a large part of the roads in Balaji Nagar are yet to be relaid. Although we are happy about the rains, approach roads become slushy inconveniencing everyone,” said S. Sakthivel, organiser, The Federation of Tiruchi City Residents Welfare Associations.
Distraught residents of Ambikapuram, which was brought under the city corporation limits in 2011 are now asking the civic body for gravel to fill up their potholes. “This locality has not seen paved roads at all. We were managing with unpaved roads for at least the last ten years, however, recently, workers from the corporation dug up the roads for laying drainage pipes. The stretches have become muddy”, said Govinda Raju, a resident.
The condition has become so bad that residents cannot travel on the approach road, he said. “School children and even some aged residents have to walk through an empty plot filled with overgrown bushes to reach home,” he added.
“Temporary repairs are carried out by the civic body every year, but a single spell of rain is enough to erase the effect of the repairs. There is no viable mechanism to effectively repair roads,” Mr. Raju said.
Speaking to The Hindu , N. Ravichandran, Corporation Commissioner said that road works are being taken up in a phased manner.
“Following complaints, the road in front of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital was recently relaid. A meeting to discuss other such roads and relaying works is being convened on Monday. Several other roads will be identified and be relaid soon. These works will be completed before the monsoon sets in,” he said.
