CHENNAI: Riding 700 metres may not seem ‘scary’ but commuters travelling along the mud road that connects Iyyapanthangal and Bharanaiputhur to Kundrathur across the Tambaram-Maduravoyal bypass feel otherwise. They feel it is nothing short of a nightmare, and is set to get worse with the monsoon — a fate they have been enduring for 12 long years.
The bypass road was bought by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) from the Public Works Department (PWD) decades ago. The natural outlet of the Porur lake, which runs through Mugalivakkam, was sealed by NHAI during the construction of the road, which disrupted the flow of excess water.
“During the 2005 monsoon, the areas near Porur were badly hit and the water went towards Iyyapanthangal and Bharaniputhur in search of outlets,” said Baskaran, the area engineer. “The PWD then decided to make an artificial canal, which would help the water escape.
We found the area running adjacent the bypass as one that can join the Porur lake and so began the work.” Part of the canal runs in front of the tunnel connecting the two sides of the bridge. With the canal sealed but unfinished, two-wheelers and light vehicles had to go into the bylanes to get to the other side while the heavy vehicles had to go through nearby villages.
“The NHAI filed a case against the PWD in 2012 for making use of their land without proper permission and a stay order was obtained,” said R K Ravichandran, president of the Human Rights and Consumer Rights Protection Society. “The case, which was in the court for more than three years, has received a final order where the court has asked the PWD to finish the work and hand it over to NHAI.” But this was not the end of the hurdles.
“The contractor in-charge of the canal withdrew after the stay order was issued over the extension,” said the area engineer Baskaran. “Now we are looking for new contractors, which will be confirmed by January and from thereon it will take another two months to get over with the job.”
A senior official on condition of anonymity wondered why the NHAI raised the issue years after the PWD started the work. “We were hoping to get a compensation amount from the PWD for the area of the canal. So we filed a case,” he said.
In the bargain, it is the commuters and residents who are suffering. “There are two schools across the road and hundreds of children who travel there every day,” said Venkatesh Krishnan, a teacher at the Kundrathur Girls High School. “Even a small slip can be fatal as the vehicle can slide into the canal.”