CHENNAI: Even as the carriageway and service road for ramps are yet to be put in place, the rail overbridge between Urapakkam and Vandalur suburban stations have been thrown open. The State highways is forced to allow vehicular movement on the incomplete ROB following repeated protests from residents of Otteri and Kilambakkam, who claimed they were being forced to detour for about one km via Urapakkam or Vandalur to access Chennai - Tiruchy NH.
Surprisingly, the motorists are using the unidirectional arm of the ROB for commuting in both directions from NH risking their lives. Particularly, vehicles from Otteri are reaching NH through the arm that ends towards Guduvanchery instead of using another arm towards Tambaram.
The works for ROB commenced in 2014, replacing the level crossing gate 36 between Vandalur and Urapakkam stations. It is stated that initially, the highways built the ROB without obtaining approval from the NHAI. However, the works were delayed due to issues in land acquisition, said official sources.
The locals from Otteri which has more than 2,000 families said they have been undergoing hardship for nearly seven years due to the closure of LC gate. “The railways, NHAI, State highways and leaders of local bodies have collectively contributed to this mess,” said an auto driver on anonymity.
The ROB has three arms. The one arm that connects towards Otteri is bidirectional and two arms built on Chennai - Tiruchy NH on opposite sides are unidirectional. The estimated cost of the ROB is Rs. 33 crores.
“A few months ago when we protested, we were told there were issues in land acquisition due to erroneous entries in revenue records. As we had no clue how long it would take to finish the project, we demanded authorities allow us to use the incomplete bridge,” said K Velu of Otteri.
A senior official from State highways said, “The NHAI has approved ROB last year. There were issues in acquiring land for the service road. The revenue department is expected to handover the land parcels by January.” The official added that due to public demand the commutation was allowed on the incomplete ROB. “The issue of safety of motorists will be looked into.”
