Date:22/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/22/stories/2008122258620300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Feeling scared of scarred roads

City Bureau

— Photo: S. THANTHONI

the road ahead: Commuters are having to put up with bad roads in many parts of the city. A scene on G.N.Chetty Road recently.

CHENNAI: Many roads in the city and suburbs develop pot-holes and frayed edges after the rain. Why cannot roads withstand the onslaughts of a downpour?

A retired Highways Department official said the life cycle of a black-topped road is five years. There are three basic requirements for laying a good road: Material mixing, which would take into account the right material selection and correct mixing; Quality machinery and close supervision. Frequent damage to roads happened because of lack of supervision and improper mixing of materials.

He said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Highways Department stipulate that 10 per cent of the contract cost would be withheld by the department for defect liability for a period of one year. This acts as an insurance against bad workmanship of the contractor.

Highways Department officials said that roads maintained by them in the city had been patched in most places. The Corporation too has taken up road repair. On some roads, cold milling machines have scraped off the top layer before a new layer is laid to ensure that road height does not increase.

The Chennai Corporation specifies the standards for road work in its tender documents but things can go wrong during the implementation of the contract. Residents cite examples of bad workmanship on Rajaji Nagar First Main Road, north Villivakkam, Sai Nagar First Main Road and Kaliamman Koil Street in Virugambakkam.

Road conditions in suburbs are much worse. In Tiruvottiyur, for examples, some roads have not been re-laid for about a decade due to delayed projects for underground sewerage. In Manali, roads that carry heavy vehicle traffic get damaged easily, said M. Mahalingam, a resident. Contractors need to be trained better, he said.

An official from Maduravoyal Municipality said roads up to a distance of nearly 10 km (of the total 38-km stretch of roads) had been damaged by rain. A proposal to repair the interior roads at the cost of Rs.6 crore has been submitted to the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration.

Maintaining the quality of roads is also linked to better drainage of flood water. Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said that 48 hours of inundation could damage the roads as the bonds become weak. Contractors need to improve their work and the civic body is trying to ensure continuous drainage of flood water, he stated.

(With inputs from R. Srikanth, Kannal Achuthan and Deepa H Ramakrishnan)