Some roads in Thoraipakkam have been in bad shape for years. Residents feel that the neglect could be deliberate — an attempt to get motorists to pay at toll plazas.
The Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) runs two such plazas on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road and at Perungudi for using the Rajiv Gandhi Salai.
Detours available
Motorists could avoid the Perungudi toll plaza by using the Sathya Sai Nagar Road, via the Corporation Road, to reach the I.T. offices located on MGR Road or proceed to Thiruvanmiyur and Adyar.
According to residents, a ramp to link Sathya Sai Nagar Road with the Radial Road has been kept pending for years to make cars and heavy vehicles use the toll road.
Similarly, residents on the opposite side of Sathya Sai Nagar Road also complain of roads being in a state of disrepair for more than two years.
Ranga Prasad, a resident, said a motorist proceeding from Rajiv Gandhi Salai towards the Radial Road could avoid the toll plaza by taking interior streets such as Pillaiyar Koil Street, Prakasam Road and Vinayagam Nagar Road in Thoraipakkam. The authorities have kept these roads in poor condition for more than three years solely with the intention of making motorists, particularly car owners, pay toll, he charged.
RTI and complaints
The residents of the locality complained that several representations have been filed through residents welfare associations for constructing a ramp at Sathya Sai Nagar and repairing the interior roads but no steps have been taken till now.
The residents have also filed petitions under the Right to Information Act but the authorities have not replied as of now, he added.
