CHENNAI: After an interior road in Velachery that is used by hundreds of people every day developed a crack on Monday evening, the Greater Chennai Corporation filed a police complaint against a builder, noting that the ongoing construction work near the road led to the stretch developing a crack.

A multi-storey building is coming up on a plot adjacent to the Sheshadripuram 1st Main Road in Annai Indira Nagar in Velachery, opposite Perungudi Station Road. The foundation work for the structure is going on about 60 metres below ground level. On Monday evening, a 150-metre-long crack developed on the road, rendering it unusable for hundreds of motorists, office-goers, and school and college students who use the road to reach the Perungudi railway station.

On Tuesday morning, the Regional Deputy Commissioner (South) and other officials from the Greater Chennai Corporation inspected the damaged area.

Vehicular movement has been blocked, and barricades have been placed over the damaged road to prevent people from passing through the stretch.

Speaking to DT Next, S Baskaran, the councillor representing Ward 178 of the Chennai Corporation, said they had asked the builder to stop the construction work after the incident. The work can be restarted after getting a no objection certificate (NOC), he said.

“It is the contractor who is responsible for repairing the damaged road, stormwater drain and sewage pipelines that were damaged. After the incident, the contractor assured to repair these,” Baskaran added.

However, after giving these promises during the initial round of talks, there was no further response from the builder. After waiting for a while, the Chennai corporation filed a police complaint against the builder.

"Despite multiple calls to ask the builder to come for a discussion, there was no response from them. So, the area engineer and I filed a police complaint at the J7 police station, Velachery. Appropriate action will be taken to restore the damaged road," the councillor added.