Relaying of roads without milling process in certain locations in Tiruchi has caused consternation among residents. The roads are being relaid without any concern for the safety of the buildings on the sides that get inundated once there is a heavy rainfall, residents complained.
The City Corporation has, over the past few days, been carrying out patchworks and relaying roads in Palakkarai under the Ariyamangalam zone. Vellamandi Road and neighbouring roads in the locality were laid with a new bituminous layer, raising the height of the roads by a few centimetres.
Since the heights of the roads will increase due to the addition of fresh layers, the commercial establishments situated alongside the road get affected by water stagnation. As the roads either have a disfunctional stormwater drain or none, even moderate rain will flood the areas. “The shops had gone below road level due to contractors laying new roads on top of the existing surface in order to avoid costs incurred in milling,” said Ranjith of Vellamandi area, who owns a shop nearby.
According to the residents, the corporation officials are responsible for not properly monitoring the work done by the contractors. “The present condition is that the height of the road has gone up well beyond the surface on the sides. While some of the major roads near Puthur were milled prior to relaying, the roads near Gandhi Market were not,” said N. Jamaluddin, former president, of Tamil Nadu Consumer Rights Council.
As per the guidelines issued by the State Government, the surface of the existing road should be milled to ensure better bonding on the surface, and to prevent the level of the roads from rising.
The civic body official said that they had to skip the milling process in certain pockets as the roads were already in a damaged condition. “But then, only a few stretches could not be milled because they were entirely worn out. The rest of the roads were milled,” a senior official said.
