It is more than two months since Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board completed its drinking-water pipes-laying work on Kundrathur Road. The pipes have been laid where the vehicular movement is towards Kundrathur from Porur junction.
However, the State Highways Department is yet to relay a portion of the road, between Porur junction and Moulivakkam, a distance of two kilometres.
A trench that had been dug up for the drinking-water pipes work has not been closed properly. It has not even been levelled. The delay in relaying poses a threat to the safety of motorists.
As the road is narrow, traffic moves at a snail’s pace, especially during rush hours. Lorries and MTC (Metropolitan Transport Corporation) buses frequent this stretch. If drivers of heavy vehicles are not careful while driving down this road, they may get stuck on the uneven portion of the road, with its loose sand.
“Our vehicles get stuck as the sand is loose. Moreover, following the recent spells of rain, the uneven portion of the road has turned slushy and slippery,” says K. Marriappan, a resident of Porur. At night, the road is dim as it is lit only by sodium-vapour lamps.
The local police has placed a few signboards to caution the public about the battered section of the road. Pedestrians have no other option but to walk on the carriageway. Residents say ambulance drivers now take a detour through interior lanes of Kundrathur Road.
Kundrathur Road witnesses heavy traffic as farmers from the nearby villages such as Kollachery, Arambedu, Erumaiyur, Gerugambakkam, Kavanoor, Kolambakkam, Poothandalam and Vaipoor take this road to access the wholesale market at Koyambedu. Also, it provides quick access to the Bangalore Highway (NH:04) via Kundrathur.
State Highways officials cite cable repair work undertaken by the Tangedco at Moulivakkam intersection for the delay in relaying the road. “Steps will be taken to relay the stretch soon,” says a State Highways official.
