In Korattur, a stubborn civic problem lasting a year was resolved just like that, in two days flat.
Towards the end of August, a stretch of East Avenue Road — between Korattur police station and the road’s point of intersection with the CTH Road — was relaid.
Corporation officials pointed out that frequent accidents were being reported from this section of the road through most part of August. Easing of lockdown restrictions had caused it to bustle with traffic.
Last year, Chennai Metrowater had dug the stretch to lay water pipelines. Though much of the pipeline-laying work, especially on the carriageway, was completed in September 2019, the civic body was dragging its feet on having the stretch relaid.
The civic body had been maintaining that the entire pipeline-laying work had to be finished before the damaged portion of the road was relaid.
“We are happy that the damaged portion of the stretch was finally relaid after all months of waiting,” says S. Raghavan, a resident of Korattur.
Every day, a huge number of motorists take East Avenue Road which connects the Chennai–Tiruvallur High (CTH) Road with Korattur via Central Avenue Road.
At present, motorists coming from Balaji Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Agaharam, TVS Nagar and Central Avenue use East Avenue Road to reach various places, including Villivakkam, Perambur, Ayanavaram, Chintamani, Kilpauk, Koyambedu, Anna Nagar, and Vadapalani.
Many workers Small Industrial Development Corporation Industrial Estate also take the road as part of the daily commute.
East Avenue Road also connects the Chennai Bypass with Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Main Road via CTH Road. It also serves as a link between Korattur, Retteri, Villivakkam, Pattaravakkam and Ambattur Industrial Estate.
To ensure regular supply of water to all residents of the locality, especially the tail-end areas where water supply is irregular, Chennai Metrowater laid water pipelines on East Avenue Road in Korattur.
With the pipelines being laid along its concrete median, there was no hindrance to the movement of buses and other vehicles.
When much of the pipeline-laying work was completed, mounds of blue metal were dumped to level the damaged stretch as part of the road re-laying after the 2019 north-east monsoon. The blue metal was used to level the damaged portion of the stretch, bit it was not relaid.
The local police also insisted on the giving the damaged road bitumen coating to ensure motorists’ safety.
