Citizen Connect: Residents bear the brunt of ignored and battered 70-ft road in Annanur

The 70-ft wide road branching out from Chennai-Tiruttani High (CTH) Road near Murugappa Polytechnic towards Annanur railway station, though just about one-and-a-half km in length, is a lifeline for the residents of the locality. Since the other side of Annanur is blocked by the railway crossing, which would be closed most of the day, it operates as a one way.

Heavy vehicles intending to enter Annanur will have to use the 70-ft road. Also, majority of the residents use this stretch to reach the railway station to head to work either towards Chennai Central or Arakkonam.

However, the arterial road has been ignored for years together, leaving the residents to bear the brunt. The resident’s welfare associations in the locality have tried to re-lay some parts of the road, but with heavy vehicles plying to and from the site of ongoing flyover work near the railway station, the road remains battered.

“The flyover work across the railway crossing has been underway for the last few months. Earthmovers and heavy vehicles carrying sand and concrete mixture use the road to reach the spot. As a result, the road has turned into a worse nightmare for motorists. For every 50 metres, the road is riddled with potholes, making it inconvenient for residents. Call taxis and auto rickshaws stopped coming to Annanur citing the condition of the roads,” said Velmurugan, one of the residents.

Another resident said not just the main stretch but several lanes and by-lanes in Annanur are not properly laid.

“The authorities keep giving excuses for delaying proper roads in the locality. They would wait until the flyover across the railway line to be completed to lay the roads and we are not sure how many more years it is going to take,” he said.

While the road is in a bad shape, a couple of electric poles block entry to the stretch from CTH road. “The signboard is damaged, bushes have grown around it. And the electric poles block the way. The sight of it will sum up how the road has been ignored,” said the resident.

Officials from Avadi Municipality, when contacted, said that they will not be able to comment on the issue until the model of conduct ceases to exist.