Battered stretch has residents up in arms

Novel protest will see people repairing a stretch from Maduravoyal to Vanagaram

For many years now, residents of Maduravoyal and Vanagaram have struggled to travel through the battered stretch of Poonamallee High Road between the two localities. In a bid to attract attention to their long-pending problem, they plan to stage a novel protest by mending the road by themselves.

Residents said the arterial road, which is a vital link to other States, has not been black topped for over a decade now. The condition of the road has worsened and only patchwork has been done to fill potholes. However, even such temporary measures have not been carried out in the past two years, they charged.

B. Varadarajan, president, Maduravoyal Residents Welfare Association, said motorists have a tough time negotiating the damaged stretch, particularly during peak hours. They have to vie for space with heavy vehicles bound to other States and also face the risk of accidents. “It takes more than an hour to cross the nearly 5-km stretch as vehicles have to crawl in the traffic on the pothole-ridden stretch,” he added.

Residents complained that the problem had worsened after the stalling of the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated corridor project. The damaged portion around the unfinished pillars still await black topping.

Members of Maduravoyal Residents Welfare Association and voluntary organisations had earlier attempted to mend the road that was in a bad shape in 2015. Residents recalled that patch work was carried out shortly. However, the stretch remained neglected after the initiative.

S.Yuvaraj, president, Public, Environment and Awareness Society, a voluntary organisation, said several representations have been made to the State Highways department and National Highway Authority of India. “If they don’t relay the road in two weeks, we plan to mend the road by ourselves. We also plan to lodge a police complaint on the negligence of duty by the government agencies,” he added.

Official sources in the National Highways Authority of India, which manages the stretch of road, said that work to patch the holes is being carried out presently by a contractor. An order was issued recently for works, including removing the top layer of the road through cold milling and relaying the road at an estimated cost of ₹13.37 crore. To prevent accidents, crash barriers would also be placed in between the pillars that would be painted, the source added.