The lockdown has been relaxed and the roads are busy again. For the thousands of commuters along Rajaji Road in West Tambaram however, travails continue.
Rajaji Road is the link to Tambaram market and the municipality office. Motorists also use the road daily to reach Gandhi Salai and GST Road. There are also hundreds of shops on the road. The road however, has been in terrible condition for the past six months and the Tambaram Municipality that is at the end of the road, has not taken any steps to repair the road, residents charge.
T. Santosh, who runs a petty shop on the road, said the road was dug up for underground drainage work last year, and has not been repaired causing severe hardships to motorists. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown announced, the road repair work was left in limbo.
The road being the main thoroughfare for heavy vehicles to reach the vegetable and other markets, motorists are suffering from dust pollution from the dug-up section. Several motorists complained that though officials of the Tambaram Municipality had enough time to re-lay the road during the lockdown when no vehicular movement was allowed, no steps were taken to even re-pave the damaged portion of the road.
A senior official of Tambaram Municipality said underground drainage was yet to be completed on Rajaji Salai. The work was stopped due to the announcement of the lockdown from March 24 and due to shortage of labourers. “Repair work in the damaged portion will be carried out this week,” he said.
