The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Sewer line repair work leaves RK Mutt Road in a shambles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Sewer line repair work leaves RK Mutt Road in a shambles

K. Lakshmi

Traffic has been thrown into chaos for the last three months

The key route links several important areas
The same stretch was dug up two years ago to lay sewer pipeline

— Photo: K. V. Srinivasan

Bumpy stretch: Motorists and residents want the sewer work on R.K Mutt Road in Mandaveli to be expedited and the stretch relaid before monsoon.

CHENNAI: It is back to bumpy rides, dust pollution and unsafe driving for motorists negotiating the busy Ramakrishna (RK) Mutt Road with the work of repairing a damaged sewer line leaving the stretch in Mandaveli badly battered.

The situation, however, is not new to the motorists as parts of the stretch are often dug up. As a result of the work, traffic on the stretch from the Mandaveli bus terminus junction to Rani Meyammai Girls Higher Secondary School has been chaotic in the past three months with limited space available to the vehicles to manoeuvre.

Two-wheeler rider B. Ravindran, who regularly uses the R.K. Mutt Road, said the key route linking several important areas such as Adyar and R. A. Puram with Mylapore deserves a better deal. Several motorists prefer the road despite the damage as avoiding it would mean a detour of at least one km, he added.

Residents recalled that the same stretch suffered damage two years ago as it was dug up to lay sewer pipeline, for the Chennai City River Conservation Project, and repair sewer line bursts. It took several months for the road to be blacktopped.

M.Saroja, who owns a roadside shop on the stretch, pointed out that since buses also plied on the road, there was limitation on the space for other motorists. In particular, the stretch opposite the R.K Nagar Telephone Exchange, where the digging activity is in progress, poses problem for both motorists and pedestrians.

The patch work on the road has not helped to smoothen the traffic flow, she added. The space around the dug-up area has been converted into a makeshift parking area, further shrinking the road space.

Residents want the work completed at the earliest to facilitate re-laying of road before monsoon.

Responding to the complaints, a Chennai Metrowater official said the work to check leakages in sewer main would be over in two or three weeks after which the road would be handed over to the Chennai Corporation for restoration.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail