CHENNAI: A tale of potholes and neglect

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 23, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/a-tale-of-potholes-and-neglect/268071.html

CHENNAI: Motorists using the stretch of Dr Ambedkar College Road near Pulianthope slaughterhouse would perhaps be cursing the civic authorities every time they passed by. Full of gaping potholes, the road offered a bumpy ride that would be a litmus test for any vehicle’s shock absorbers, not to speak of the motorists’ backs that invariably bore the brunt.

A 50-metre stretch of the road, starting from Corporation’s Zone-III (Pulianthope) office up to Ganeshapuram subway, had been fully battered with potholes at many places for the past three months.

“Few months ago, when Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s convoy passed through the stretch when he visited parts of north Chennai, the civic body had done an elaborate but temporary patchwork at these spots to hide the actual condition of roads,” said Moideen, a resident of the adjacent Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board tenements.

The ride would have been smooth for the Chief Minister and, thanks to his visit, the regular commuters would have enjoyed a bump-free ride for a few days. “But soon, things were back to square one,” Moideen lamented.

Dr Ambedkar College Road was an important thoroughfare that connected Vyasarpadi, Erukkenchery, MKB Nagar, Kodungaiyur and Korukkupet areas to Purasawalkam and the rest of the city.  Considered a lifeline for the residents of north Chennai, the road is widely used by motorists as well as public transport. The volume of traffic during peak hour was quite high.

Besides the number of trips of MTC buses made through the stretch, an estimated 15,000 to 18,000 cars, autorickshaws and two-wheelers used the road everyday. While all motorists bore the brunt, two-wheeler riders were among the worst affected as they found it  difficult to negotiate the potholes, especially during the peak hours.

Finally responding to local residents’ persistent requests to the Corporation to at least make the stretch motorable, the civic body had done some patchwork (as part of their road-laying works) in January, but in a few months, the road was back to what it was in December, Muthu, a resident of VOC Nagar, told Express.

According to the local residents, this particular stretch got damaged frequently due to continuous seepage of water from an underground Metrowater pipeline. “We have requested the department concerned several times, but nothing has happened yet,” said Kannaiah, another resident of VOC Nagar.

When contacted, a senior Corporation official told Express that patch work at the particular stretch would be carried out within a week. The official said that the long-pending road-relaying works were back on track after Election Commission’s relaxation of the model code of conduct.