Milled 4 days ago, Patel Road yet to be re-laid

CHENNAI: Though denizens welcome the Corporation’s move to re-lay roads that were damaged during the northeast monsoon, they lament over the contractor’s irresponsible and lackadaisical attitude in following guidelines issued by the civic body.

Residents of Perambur fumed that recently, a road was re-laid without removing the vehicle that was parked near the Murasoli Maran flyover.

“Following the complaints by residents from various areas of the city about roads being re-laid around the cars parked on the streets, the Corporation ensured that the parked vehicles would be cleared with the help of traffic police or ask the owners to clear it. It’s unfortunate that this stretch of the road has been re-laid around the wrecker (a tow truck) which was parked below Murasoli Maran bridge for several days,” explained C Raghukumar, a resident and activist at Perambur.

Residents pointed out that the local body urged them to clear their vehicles before re-laying the roads but hasn’t intimated the city police officials to remove the wrecker. “This lack of coordination among the government departments leads to shoddy works. And, the zonal engineers do not monitor when the road is being re-laid,” he added.

Similarly, the GCC milled Patel Road four days ago, and it’s yet to be laid. Even the milling has not been done properly. Residents complain that the existing storm water drains didn’t work as their neighbourhood was inundated during the monsoon.

“The road has a long history of water-logging. We’ve asked and pleaded with the Corporation authorities to repair the SWD and then start the re-laying works on Patel Road to avoid unnecessary road cuts, though the work to re-lay roads commenced recently. It has been 4-5 days since the contractor milled the road and nothing has happened after that,” said another resident of Perambur.

When contacted, a senior official at Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zone said that they were unaware of the roads being re-laid without removing the parked vehicles. “It will be rectified after inspection. Contractors will be instructed to re-lay roads within a day after milling. Steps will be taken to re-lay the milled road immediately.”