Interior roads in the city that have been damaged, dug up and poorly designed have given rise to civic issues in many neighbourhoods, leading to a rise in complaints and accidents.
With Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani announcing in the Assembly that ₹1,000 crore would be spent on restoration of damaged roads in Chennai and other urban local bodies, residents have started reporting damage to roads to the civic officials in their wards.
Even as the 471 bus routes in the city have been improved in the past few years, many of the 33,374 interior roads are in bad shape. According to official estimates, more than 15% of these 33,000 odd interior roads have been damaged by infrastructure projects undertaken by Metrowater, Tangedco and telecom service providers.
Road quality
Residents allege that the civic body failed to check the quality of interior roads. R.E. Shenbagavalli, a resident of Gandhi Nagar Main Road, Virugambakkam, says the cement concrete road developed by the Chennai Corporation a few years ago has been damaged, causing frequent accidents.
“One of our neighbours was injured a few days ago in a road traffic accident on Gandhi Nagar Main Road which is damaged. Children and women are getting injured,” she says.
The road, which is just 23 feet wide, is frequented by hundreds of vehicles every day. Residents say the contractor who developed the road failed to design it properly. “After the development of the concrete road, groundwater recharge has been affected and the wells in our locality have dried up. There is no water in wells in the houses of all the 13 concrete roads developed in Gandhi Nagar. This is the first time the well in my house has dried up,” says A. Amudha Kumari, a resident.
The poor design of the road has caused a rise in inundation in houses where residents have also laid cement flooring on the premises, without proper rainwater harvesting. Accidents have also been reported at the junction of Kamarajar Salai and Indira Gandhi Salai in Alwarthirunagar because of the poor quality of road surface.
“A huge pit has been formed at the junction of Velan Nagar Eighth Street and Velan Nagar Main Road. The drain developed across the road junction is getting damaged by the movement of vehicles, causing the collapse of the road surface. We have reported the issue to the Chennai Corporation. The officials have just placed a tree guard in the pit to warn motorists,” says Gopi, a resident of Ward 149.
Residents in many of the areas are unable to report the civic issues to the Chennai Corporation officials concerned. “We used to tell the councillors before 2016. Now we are not able to report any grievances,” says A. Albert, a resident of Porur.
Former Chennai Corporation Floor Leader V. Sukumar Babu says councillors of the 200 wards used to visit roads frequently before 2016 and compile a list of damaged stretches. “Former councillors have stopped going now. Officials are not concerned. The corporation facility to do patch work on roads has also been closed,” says Mr. Babu.
S. Augustine of Mastan Gori Street in Adambakkam says the road was dug up six months ago for laying a pipeline. “It has not been re-laid for a long time. This is a small stretch, a simple work. They should re-lay it without further delay,” he says.
Non-motorable
Many roads have been rendered non-motorable because of implementation of water supply projects in areas such as Nolambur, Karambakkam, Nandambakkam, Injambakkam, Manapakkam, Okkiyam-Thoraipakkam and Sholinganallur. Residents of areas such as Kottivakkam, Perungudi, Puzhal, Pallikaranai and Palavakkam, where roads are expected to be dug up, have demanded the Chennai Corporation and other line agencies to re-lay the stretches immediately after the water supply projects are implemented at a cost of ₹335 crore.
“We will conduct coordination meetings with other line agencies to reduce the hardship of residents ahead of the completion of the water supply schemes in March 2020,” said a Corporation official.
Meanwhile, residents also complain that the helpline was not that helpful. Raja Mani, a resident of Ramapuram, called the Corporation helpline to report the condition of a damaged stretch of Valluvar Salai in Ramapuram at 11.50 a.m. on Sunday. He was unable to talk to the 1913 helpline officials even after trying three times.
“There is no response from officials. We have been repairing the road on our own. But it gets damaged again. Motorists are getting injured,” says Mr. Mani.
