Citizen Connect: Road in Kolathur remains bumpy for five years, officials cite polls to defer relaying

The road serves as a link between Water Canal Road and Kadappa Road. The people here blame the indifference of the officials, while the latter maintain that the work would be taken only after elections are over.

The road was dug up to carry a number of works, including laying underground cables, sewage lines, electricity cables and Metro Water lines. According to the residents, the authorities then left the road unattended, making it unusable for the commuters. “The stretch of the road was damaged while undertaking work from Water Canal Road till Puthagaram Road. The work also led to the seepage of sewage into the cable lanes and the road has now become a pool of sewer water,” says V Shanti, a resident of Kolathur. The authorities took up road laying work last year on various stretches in the locality, but the Puthagaram Road was left out,” added Mohan Babu, another resident from the locality.

Adding to their woes, a vegetable market in the vicinity is making it worse for commuters, as the garbage, including vegetable and fruit remains, are strewn on the road. This is causing inconvenience to scores of commuters who take this stretch to reach Jawaharlal Nehru Salai.

“The part of the road from the Water Canal Road till Kolathur Main Road was re-laid last year, but the other half of the stretch is lying unattended. It is difficult for pedestrians to walk along the road. Even the motorists are facing the risk of accidents because of the bad condition of the road,” said B Abishek, another resident.

Puthagaram Road is not the only road in the neighbourhood that has not been laid. Despite being a fast developing residential area lying on the fringes of the city, motorists in this area are forced to ride through bumpy roads, as their repeated requests have fallen on deaf ears.

When contacted the civic officials from Ambattur zone said laying of roads in the locality, including the Puthagaram Road, was on the anvil. However, an official cited the model code of conduct that is in force in view of the Lok Sabha elections to add that the works would be taken up only after the polling was over.