Construction material on road irks motorists, residents

While motorists are having to negotiate with the little space left, residents fear for the safety of the children and senior citizens in the neighbourhood.

Sudharshan M was surprised to see that a pile of sand was dumped at the entrance of the first street in Kesari Nagar. Those wanting to use the road had to take a detour. “I was coming back from work at around 10 pm and was stopped by a few construction workers at the entrance saying that there was some work going on and vehicles can’t use the stretch. I had to travel close to a kilometre more than the usual to reach my house. To top it all, I learnt later that the construction was not for any public project but for a private property,” says Sudharshan, an IT employee. 

Adambakkam, over the past few years, has seen a rise in the construction of individual houses as well as flats. Proximity to the airport and now the metro station, has made it a favourable location for real estate development. As a result, there has been a spurt of construction activities in the locality.

“Almost every stretch here sees a construction activity but the worst part is that all the construction material is dumped on the road. Nobody bothers to store construction material safely,” says S Murugan, another Adambakkam resident, adding that the situation on this particular stretch is rather scary. 

One can find a pile of sand, gravel and concrete mixer on the road. On the other side of the road, there are other construction debris such as planks of wood and iron rods placed on the pavements. 

“The road is wide enough to accommodate two vehicles plying in opposite directions when places next to each other, but rampant encroachment has narrowed it so much that only one vehicle can move at a time,” says Gurumoorthy, who runs a small eatery in the locality. 

He also adds that it is highly unsafe for kids and senior citizens to get on the road. “It is a residential area  and many senior citizens reside here. They can’t even take a walk on the road because of the uneven surface. We don’t let our kids go out and play because it is dangerous. Also, sometimes, the work goes on all night creating massive sound pollution. Also, one can only imagine the quality of air we breathe.” 

Over the years, Chennai Corporation has directed builders and property owners to avoid using roads to store construction material. A senior corporation official said that dumping construction material and debris in public places like roads is punishable. “All the zonal officials have been instructed to monitor this issue and we will take action against those violating rules,” he said.