CHENNAI: Four weeks after a portion of a road in front of a maternity hospital in Nanganallur caved in, autorickshaw drivers and others are scared to ply on the road. This is causing inconvenience for pregnant women, attenders and other motorists, in general. Though the road has been repaired, it is not up to the mark say the locals.
The portion of Nanganallur First Main Road caved in due to leaky water pipelines beneath the road. Local authorities had assured that the road would be repaired within three days. “They have closed the pit using just rubbles and that too in a shoddy manner and due to this the road has become uneven, thereby making it unmotorable,” said R Vijayalakshmi, a local resident. As a result, autorickshaws drop pregnant women 150-200m ahead of the hospital entrance where the road caved in, she said.
Since there is an S-shaped bend near the spot, vehicles get very little time to avoid the rubble-filled pit. So either they slow down creating traffic congestion or hit pedestrians. Even before the cave-in, the main road, which connects Nanganallur with Vanuvampettai, Madipakkam and Adambakkam, used to witness frequent accidents.
“Fortunately they were minor and we hope the government will intervene and set it right before a fatal accident,” said G Nagaraj, an auto driver. To compound matters, recent heavy rains has made the spot slushy with pebbles coming out from the pit, he added. Locals avoid the road and prefer a one-km detour via Madipakkam Main Road or interior roads of Thillai Ganga Nagar, which leads to traffic snarls in residential areas.
Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMSSWB) officials said that they replaced the leaky pipelines with new ones and Greater Chennai Corporation had to relay the road. Civic body had assured to take up the work this month soon after the rains stopped.