Rains come & go, but roads remain a mess

Time of India

a day ago

Chennai: For Chennai, the longest stretch of four-five dry months begins in Jan-Feb, after the northeast monsoon. This is the ideal period to complete all outdoor civic work, especially the laying and relaying of roads battered by the rains.
And Greater Chennai Corporation has missed this entire window period this year without identifying roads, auctioning works and awarding contracts.
Result: Chennai's roads both in core and extended areas continue to remain battered and neglected, endangering the lives and limbs of daily commuters and residents. Major bus routes and interior lanes, many of which suffered extensive damage due to waterlogging and poor drainage during the rains, are yet to be relaid.
The delay in road restoration has led to increased traffic congestion, vehicular damage, and safety hazards for both motorists and pedestrians.
Areas such as T Nagar, Velachery, and parts of north Chennai report large potholes, eroded asphalt, and uneven surfaces that have worsened due to the summer heat. Commuters say travel time has doubled in some locations because of damaged roads and diversions. In several extended zones including Ernavoor, Manali, Sholinganallur, and Ambattur residents report that the temporary patchwork done after the rains has not held up, turning already fragile roads into dangerous traps for two-wheelers.
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GCC is blaming the delays on the administrative process. Now that the city has already experienced pre-monsoon showers, even if roads are relaid in the coming days, they are unlikely to last long.
G Uma Devi, a retired Professor of Civil Engineering at Anna University, said, "The quality of construction is the major issue. If relaying is done properly, roads need not be redone every year, yet we find ourselves doing just that.
The concerned department should hold contractors accountable and require them to offer a warranty of at least five to ten years. There should be a Road Safety Audit for Corporation roads, similar to what exists for state highways.
"
In Chennai, newly constructed roads have a minimum warranty of three years when built using capital and other funds. Roads built under the Chennai Mega City Development Project enjoy a five-year warranty.
This defect liability period ensures that contractors are responsible for repairs during this timeframe.
"The authorities focus only on relaying major bus route roads. For instance, when the chief minister recently visited north Chennai to inaugurate the tuna fishing harbour, the corporation re-laid only the main roads, leaving interior roads neglected for over a decade. Though underground sewage facilities were provided after our area was added to GCC limits, roads were never relaid," said B Niranjan Patnaik, president of the Kamarajar Nagar Residents' Welfare Association in Ernavoor.
Similarly, an interior road in Madipakkam has gone without repair for 20 years, despite nine nearby roads being repaired in that time.
The corporation has completed its tender process and is set to commence re-laying 3,980 roads at a length of 650.90km at a cost of 489.25 crore. Post northeast monsoon, the civic body has carried out only patch work.
When contacted, GCC commissioner J Kumaragurubaran told TOI: "Typically, road relaying work begins in May. However, this year, due to administrative delays and an appraisal by TUFIDCO to check if the same roads were being relaid again, the process was postponed. Work will commence in June. Milling work has started, and relaying will be completed by the end of Aug."