VELLORE: The underground drainage system (UGDS) project in the Vellore Corporation, which began in March 2009, is still lagging for reasons unknown.
As a result,the traffic snarls in the city has been increasing as the several roads have been dug up for the project.
The `39.28-crore project involves around 51.6 sq km of drains in the Corporation limit. Of the total cost, `18.87 crore was shared by the government, `11.47 crore by loan and `8.94 crore by the Corporation.
“The project was supposed to be completed by December 2012. We have planned to speed up the work and complete this project by this year-end. Eighty-six per cent of the work had been completed. We are yet to complete the work on 6.6 km,” said an official.
Permission from the National Highways Authority of India was delayed to carry out UGDS work on NH which covers 3.5 km in the city. In several places, roads were dug up for the project but were not relaid properly. This has been causing inconvenience to road- users. Many roads were turned into one-way, forcing the public to commute long distances to their destination.
The road-users are irked as they have to pass through the Makkan Circle via Old Bus Stand to get to Arni Road.
“Poor implementation of the project has made life horrible for motorists and passersby. The officials should execute the project symmetrically to ensure free flow of traffic and facilitate easy movement of passersby. But many roads and junctions like Palace Cafe and Makkan Junction are in a poor state,” said P Palani, a commuter.
“It seemed like the drainage work was completed, but the road work has not even started for months in Makkan area. Daily, we find it difficult to cross the stretch during peak hours. Autodrivers are blamed for traffic, but the real problem is with Corporation,” said Kumar, an autodriver.
The remaining portion of the project is from Makkan Signal via South Police Station, Arni Road to Velapadi Bridge.
UGDS covers 194 streets attached to the Vellore Corporation.
Recently, a 14-year-old Jharkhand girl fell in an open drainage in Beri Subramaniya Kovil Street and got washed away. The body was retrieved 60 hours later from the discharge point of the drainage canal in Palar River bed. “If the officials do small things correctly, it will ensure the safety of the public and result in speedy completion of the project,” said another autodriver.