It is two months since Chennai Metrowater completed the work of laying water-pipelines on Jawaharlal Nehru Main Road, below the flyover towards Koyambedu.
However, parts of the stretch where the work was carried out continue to look pitted.
The State Highways Department has not relaid the road with bitumen, citing delay in getting a no-objection certificate (NOC).
Apparently, in the interest of road users, the stretch can be re-laid without obtaining a no-objection certificate, especially because it witnesses heavy traffic movement during rush hour.
With the road in a shambles, road users are put to a lot of inconvenience.
Motorists including drivers of MTC buses, school vans, ambulances and cars and motorcyclists have to negotiate narrow one-way stretches such as 13th Main Road, 15th Main Road to reach Second Main Road near the Tirumangalam Metro Rail station.
These interior streets were converted into one-way routes to facilitate smooth flow of traffic and to expedite water pipeline-laying work.
“During rush hour, many motorists including motorcyclists and autorickshaw drivers, drive on the wrong side, which results in traffic chaos. Restoration of traffic below the Tirumangalam flyover will ease traffic congestion at the junction,” says S. Venketaramani, a commuter from Mogappair.
Prior to the work on the water pipelines, the stretch below the Tirumangalam flyover was a key link for motorists from Padi, Ambattur, Tirumangalam and Mogappair to reach areas like Fourth Avenue and Shanthi Colony in Anna Nagar and Koyambedu flyover.
Further, the stretch also offers the shortest route to reach Poonamallee High Road near D.G. Vaishnav College in Arumbakkam. It makes the journey quicker than if a motorist took the Anna Roundtana route. Residents in the neighbourhood also use the stretch to reach Koyambedu wholesale market and the CMBT bus terminus.
As per the existing traffic changes engineered to facilitate the pipeline-laying work, motorists from Second Avenue Road and Fourth Avenue Road cannot proceed directly to 13th Main Road and 15thMain Road. They have to take a right turn at OHT traffic point below the flyover to reach these two stretches.
Only motorists coming from the Tirumangalam junction can use these two stretches. Traffic police personnel are present only at Tirumangalam junction making it easy for traffic violators to come on the wrong side of the one-way stretches.
With no safety measures including sign boards and reflectors, vehicles from Second Avenue Main Road and from these lanes clash each other near Tirumangalam Metro Rail Station.
“Steps will be taken to re-lay the stretch soon,” says a State Highways official.
