Motorists bear the brunt as city roads fail to withstand intermittent rains

CHENNAI: Endurance of arterial, main and interior roads was tested across the city, as very heavy to moderate rains drenched the city for the past three days, thanks to Ditwah's transformation into a deep depression. Waterlogging, erosion, and damage were the main challenges borne by the city's roads.

For the last couple of days, riders have been manoeuvring through a damaged road and urge the officials to do the patchwork at the earliest, once the rain stops.

From Ashok Nagar to Padi Flyover, a stretch of over 8 kilometres, several potholes caused disturbances to motorists, especially at the intersection of Ambalavanan Street, Annai Sathya Nagar in Arumbakam - Jawaharlal Nehru Salai. The Metro Water Board did pipe repair work two months back, yet the department has placed a barricade on the road.

A regular commuter, P Selva, said, "The rain itself slows down the vehicular movement. The barricade placed on the road near Vijay Park may raise the risks of accidents on the busy road, and another big pothole is at the entrances of Games Villa Tower."

Similarly, on Anna Salai, continuous rain battered the road near the Nandanam College and YMCA, "The stretch from Nandanam Metro to Cosmopolitan club was affected worse during Cyclone Montha. The stretch goes dark during rain, paving the way for accidents and damaging the vehicle," said A Stephan Raj, a resident of Tod Hunter Nagar.

After the rains of two days, pits and damaged roads became a common sight on OMR, even though the long IT highway was repaired a few weeks ago.

Pothole-ridden roads were witnessed at many places in Kaliamman Koil Street, especially at the junction of Kaliamman Koil Street-Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and opposite to K-10 Koyambedu Police Station.

Auto drivers and several motorists are complaining that the vehicles from Koyambedu Market East Road and Kaliamman Koil Street were badly affected by the battered road.

Nearly a 1 km stretch on the Madras-Tiruvallur High (MTH) Road, which connects Konnur High Road, was another road that got hit. "Due to the inundation of water on the road, potholes have affected our daily commute. For the longevity of the road, repair works must be done properly.

GCC has taken the SWD works in Kooner High Road, which are incomplete, and have eaten up the space of the road, and also made the road condition worse," another regular commuter said.

The Old Mambalam Road, which was newly relaid before the start of the northeast monsoon, was battered in just a month, rued residents of West Mambalam.

A Highways department (city roads) official said, "Continuous rain damages several locations in Jawaharlal Nehru Salai. We are noting all the places. Once the rain stops, patchwork will be done overnight."

However, a GCC official said, "Several Bus Route Roads (BRR) and interior roads are damaged due to rain. Once the rain stops, the patchwork will be started, in large battered stretches, roads will be milled and relaid."