Unfinished Katpadi main road puts two-wheeler riders at risk

VELLORE:  Two-wheeler riders are prone to accidents after contractors left road construction work of the Katpadi main road near the new bus stand unfinished. The stretch in question underwent milling, as long as a month ago, and was left at that.

Milling involves scraping the top layer of a road/pavement before being relaid. The contractors used milling machines to scrape the road, which joins the Katpadi bridge. While the first part of the road was milled a month ago, the part from the other end of the bridge underwent milling 10 days ago. Roads, however, have not been laid on either side, thereby jeopardising the riders.

"I use this road often. It is quite difficult for two-wheelers to ride on this road. I have witnessed two accidents due to the unfinished road work in Katpadi," said auto driver, R Harikrishnan. Unfinished roads are also causing problems for shopkeepers and customers due to unfit parking space. "I have been running a petty shop here for more than 30 years due to this unfinished road, which makes it quite difficult for our customers to park their vehicles and cross the road," said Kesavan.

Milling must ideally be followed by the immediate laying of road, according to Arappor Iyakkam Convenor Jayaram Venkatesan. He added, "Most contractors do the milling in one go and then lay the roads later, which is completely unfair, and causes more accidents."

Vellore highways department divisional engineer, R N Danasekaran said rains further delayed the process of constructing roads, adding that roads will be laid soon.