Three months have passed since Tangedco completed a cable-laying exercise on a section of Arcot Road, between Valasaravakkam and Alwarthirunagar junction, and the portion where the work was carried out is yet to be relaid.
This particular section accounts for two kilometres of the arterial stretch.
On the section in question, high-powered underground electrical cable was laid on the side of the carriageway where the traffic moves towards Alwarthirunagar, from Valasaravakkam. It was an exercise necessitated by frequent power fluctuations and outages in the thickly-populated areas of Valasaravakkam and Alwarthirunagar. The problem would be acute during summer.
For this work, the footpath on the narrow Arcot Road from Valasaravakkam was dug up in December 2018. Once the cable was laid in a six-foot deep trench, the open trench was levelled with leftover sand along the stretch.
“The unevenness of the stretch especially where the cable was laid raises the risk of skidding for motorists, especially during night. The uneven stretch doesn’t make for easy walking for pedestrians,” says K. Sowmiya, a resident of Valasaravakkam.
As per the records, the stretch between Porur and Alwarthirunagar is maintained by the State Highways Department. From Alwarthirunagar, the stretch comes under Greater Chennai Corporation.
Mounds of coarse blue metal lie on many portions between these two places for many weeks now. The coarse blue metal is meant to level the dug-up portion.
“Continuous movement of vehicles on the busy stretch has slowed the levelling work on the dug-up portion and this portion will be relaid soon,” says a State Highways official.
