Citizen Connect: 6 years gone by, but subway near Korattur railway station far from finish line

Located on the Chennai Central–Arakkonam section, the Korattur railway station has four tracks, including two that are used for the suburban rail network. The existing foot overbridge (FOB) at the station is mainly used by train commuters to reach the platforms at the station. However, motorists have no option other than to take a detour to reach many other parts of the city.

That is how the proposal was mooted to build a 800 metre long and 30 feet wide two-way subway, which would allow buses to pass through. As per the plan, it would also have concrete median, LED streetlights, storm water drains, reflectors and bitumen-topped service lanes.

Nearly a decade ago, in 2010, the State government granted clearance to the Rs 20 crore project jointly executed by the Southern Railway and State Highways Department. The Railways would carry out the work on the track portion while the rest of the work, including land acquisition on both sides of the track and outside the railway station where service roads and the subway would be connected with the residential areas, were ought to be undertaken by the State Highways.

However, despite being underway for six years, the work is not even close to completion, rued K Arun, who lives near the railway station road. “The Railway completed its portion of the work last year. But the Highways Department is still working on its portion. With the northeast monsoon setting in, it is likely that the construction may be completed only next year,” he said.

T Kumaravel, who runs a tea shop near the station, noted that Korattur has been witnessing flooding during every monsoon. “This being a flood-prone area, the vehicular subway might go under water during the monsoon months. The officials should have proposed an overbridge instead of the subway,” he opined. 

A Corporation official said that the work was delayed because of a case filed by a land owner. “Now that the cases are disposed of, works are underway. We expect the work to be completed by mid-2020,” he said.