CHENNAI: Shoddy patchwork carried out after Metro Water replaced underground pipes at Anna Nagar’s Fifth Avenue has led to almost half of the arterial road lying unused by motorists.The Fifth Avenue, that connects the Northern and Southern parts of Anna Nagar via the Sixth Avenue and Fourth Avenue, respectively, was dug up earlier this year to replace the pipelines that supplied water to residents of Anna Nagar Y, Z and V blocks from Kilpauk pumping station.
However, after the pipelines were replaced, the trenches that were made on one side of the road, have been filled with debris, leaving the stretch riddled with potholes.“Since it is filled up with debris, the road is accident-prone, especially when it rains. There are a lot of students too, using the stretch,” said Keshav Pandian, a resident of Y block.Repeated complaints to corporation authorities, asking them to relay the road before the rain, fell on deaf ears, residents said.
The trenches were made to a depth of around 20 feet to make way for the new pipelines.When Express visited the road, commuters had left the side filled with debris unused because of the potholes, effectively shrinking the motorable space to just around 40 feet out of the 60-feet-road. The remaining part of the road was used mainly for parking.
“The road is a fairly congested stretch, at all times, even when the entire stretch was available to commuters. Now with half of the road not being used, it is more so,” said Kathirvelan R, an auto-rickshaw driver.
When contacted, a Greater Chennai Corporation official said Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is yet to issue the completion certificate.“The road will be relaid as soon as we receive the completion certificate from Metro Water authorities,” the official said. A Metro Water official said the completion certificate for 600 metres of the total 950 metres in which work has been undertaken, would be issued soon.
“We have finished work in 600 metres. For the remaining 350 metres, Corporation should give us permission to undertake work during night. Only then the entire project can be completed,” he said.