Patchwork roads

Sandhya Vedullapalli, a civic activist, finds it doubly taxing: she has to navigate not lone done the dug-up stretches of Anna Nagar’s 9th Main Street but besides done civic reddish tape. “First relaid successful January, the agelong is being dug up again, this clip for h2o and sewer connections. The residents had asked the Greater Chennai Corporation [GCC] to let the underground enactment to beryllium done beforehand; yet, the roadworthy was relaid. Now, it has been chopped unfastened again,” she says. Furthermore, an unresolved contented of a 20-ft electrical cablegram for an aged gathering requires the roadworthy to beryllium chopped unfastened erstwhile again. But the record remains stuck betwixt officials and the councillor, she adds.

Many residents are successful a akin position. Road conditions stay deplorable, adjacent aft rules were laid down for regulating roadworthy cuts, play meetings were introduced for coordination among civic agencies and authorities departments, and the assignment of prime controllers astatine a outgo of ₹7.5 crore to show road-laying.

Online exertion for support

The GCC has made it imaginable to use for support online for roadworthy cuts. Utility agencies specified arsenic the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), and the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) are required to manus implicit roads to the GCC erstwhile their enactment is completed. Until then, they are expected to reconstruct the roads temporarily with factual oregon bedewed mix, according to the GCC’s norms.

However, an authoritative of the Bus Route Roads Department of the GCC admits that support is often bypassed, adjacent for non-emergency work. “Recently, the GCC adjacent considered filing an FIR against Metrowater for digging up freshly laid roads astatine Anna Nagar without permission,” helium said. Under the regulations, if a roadworthy is chopped illegally without the GCC’s permission, each materials shall beryllium confiscated, illegally laid structures shall beryllium removed, an FIR shall beryllium filed for offenders to look ineligible enactment (officials are included successful the FIR lone with the Commissioner’s consent), and a good 3 times the restoration outgo and assertion charges shall beryllium imposed.

But this process is not being followed. Ward 4 Councillor R. Jayaraman, of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), says that on Mullai Street at Girija Nagar, a recently relaid roadworthy was dug up for laying electrical cables. But it was not restored connected time. “On different thoroughfare of the aforesaid area, Tangedco dug up a recently laid road, but failed to transportation retired adjacent impermanent restoration, contempt payments successful accordance with estimates. Authorities walk the blasted without completing restoration,” helium says.

Residents, meanwhile, are being forced to tally from pillar to station for road-cut repairs. K. Murali of Thirumoorthy Nagar, Nungambakkam, says that a roadworthy dug up by Metrowater was near unfastened for implicit a year. Several complaints to officials and elected representatives went successful vain. The GCC made the roadworthy motorable lone aft helium took the substance to the Chief Secretary.

Raghukumar C. of the Community Welfare Brigade says that portion the authorities enactment departments are liable for bully infrastructure, it is indispensable for citizens to beryllium proactive successful reporting issues and coordinating with officials. “Consultants were appointed for prime control, but are visibly inactive. So, radical indispensable instrumentality control,” helium says. “Many energy poles were damaged and escaped wires came successful interaction with unfastened drains, posing a occurrence hazard during the monsoon. No enactment was taken for galore months by officials. Only with the community’s involution were these problems resolved,” helium says.

C. Ramakrishnan, caput of the Federation of Adyar Residents’ Associations, says a information of Gandhi Nagar Second Main Road sank a fewer months agone aft the roadworthy was dug up by work departments and it remained unrepaired for weeks. “Many stretches were damaged. In beforehand of The Grand Sweets at Adyar, the roadworthy remains uneven due to the fact that storm-water drains were laid improperly. Officials neither pass residents astir roadworthy cuts nor bash they be to the harm instantly erstwhile flagged,” helium says.

M. Kamala Kannan of Makkal Needhi Maiam says the long-pending request for restoring the damaged T.P.P.- Burma Nagar Link Road of the Manali Zone has not met for respective years. “Also, galore roads were dug up astatine Burma Nagar by the CMWSSB several weeks agone but were not restored. Children, women and two-wheeler riders who instrumentality these tiny lanes often conscionable with accidents.”

Tuesday meetings

The question is who indispensable instrumentality work for these issues. A elder authoritative of the GCC admits that it is the civic body’s work to guarantee bully roads. He says it has been holding meetings each Tuesday to coordinate with different departments. New roadworthy cuts were halted successful September. As of September 17, 1,281 road-cut repairs had been completed, portion 589 repairs were to beryllium done.

From 2017-18 to 2024-25, the full allocation for roadworthy restoration had increased, but its utilisation was uneven. In 2017-18, lone ₹69 crore was spent against the allocation of ₹245 crore, portion successful 2020-21, the expenditure roseate to ₹210 crore on a program of ₹143 crore. In 2023-24, of the ₹881 crore announced, conscionable ₹121 crore was utilised. A elder authoritative explains that Bus Route Road funds are transferred to zones, and expenditure is recorded astatine the zonal level. Hence, determination is simply a quality betwixt the allocation and the spending.

GCC Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran says the Corporation plans to instrumentality implicit impermanent roadworthy restoration, since astir metropolis roads are nether its power and work departments wage the required charges. In 2024-25, these charges included ₹18 crore for h2o proviso connections, ₹17 crore for sewage pipelines, and ₹15 crore for energy cables.

However, an authoritative of the Bus Route Roads Department says this is simply a hard program since the section finds it a situation to negociate large-scale projects involving the CMWSSB and the Tangedco. “Also, handling some improvement and repairs simultaneously is difficult. Hence, issues bash originate successful immoderate areas. Two 100 battery-operated vehicles were deployed — 1 each for a ward — for expediting roadworthy restoration.”

Service departments blasted the patchy roads connected deficiency of coordination, staggered restoration, and snags successful approval. The CMWSSB hands implicit stretches to the GCC for impermanent restoration with factual erstwhile pipelines are laid. The agelong is relaid with a 3.5-m bituminous layer, sources say. “So acold this year, astir 2,800 roads spanning 440 km person been handed implicit to the GCC for relaying, with web information shared done an exertion programme interface. However, inadequate coordination among immoderate authorities agencies whitethorn origin harm to h2o and sewer lines. It takes 4 to 5 days to reconstruct normalcy,” the sources say.

With the CMRL constructing its 118.9-km Phase 2 network, residents often emblem roads damaged successful the execution of the project.

Four layers

CMRL officials accidental contractors are required to support roads to the modular and reconstruct them to motorable condition. Roads person 4 layers: Granular Sub-Base (GSB), Wet Mix Macadam (WMM), Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM), and Bituminous Concrete (BC). Depending connected the extent dug, immoderate layers are restored later. Officials enactment that this staggered relaying is the main crushed for the restored roads to deterioration retired quickly.

A elder authoritative of the Electricity Department says that for laying caller underground powerfulness cables, a dedicated unit, Chennai Development Circle, handles the process of support for roadworthy digging. Once a task is approved, civic officials and the postulation constabulary are informed beforehand.

The main occupation arises erstwhile cables are damaged by different agencies specified as Metrowater, telecom work providers, oregon state companies. Local energy officials look choky deadlines to unafraid online support and implicit the work. The authoritative urges the GCC to resoluteness this contented of coordination. V. Varsha of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy says negligence oregon deficiency of consciousness among officials is not the crushed for atrocious roads, but the deficiency of due cognition of the modular operating procedures. “Road restoration by different utilities is sub-par and adjacent that of the GCC is not up to the mark. Yet, the second whitethorn person a amended knowing of the process. A play gathering connected the guidelines for roadworthy restoration procedures for officials of aggregate departments whitethorn assistance successful due roadworthy restoration,” she says.

(With inputs from K. Lakshmi, Sunitha Sekar and R. Srikanth)