Crack in lifeline

A pillion rider kept her fingers crossed when the bike crossed the spot on Anna Salai where the road had caved  in. Many motorists sent up silent prayers while they passed through the stretch where the road had caved in twice. Those who had the option, avoided the route altogether and chose the round-about route instead. 

When 24-year-old Samiksha Kumar booked a cab from her house in Nungambakkam to reach Gopalapuram, the driver requested her to cancel the ride. “I usually take Nungambakkam High Road, go under the bridge and enter Cathedral Road. When I booked a ride on an app-based cab service, the driver asked me to cancel the ride as he would rather not pass through the controversial stretch. After attempting  to book other cabs a couple of times, I caught an auto but had to pay extra for it.” After a bus and a car got stuck on Sunday when the road caved-in suddenly on Anna Salai near the Presentation Convent, commuters are wary of taking the route. The  news of fresh cracks near the same spot on Tuesday morning, had the rumour mills spinning on social media. “As I was leaving for office, I received a message on WhatsApp about the cracks. The tone of the forward message was such that there might be another crater on the stretch. It also said that the traffic was blocked along the road. I was supposed to take the Anna Salai route to reach my office in T Nagar. I opted to take the Valluvarkottam High Road. Many others took the  route to avoid Anna Salai,” says Sudharshan S, an HR professional.  And he was not the only one to take the de-tour. Shafiq Ahmad who had taken the same road an hour before cave-in quickly changed the route on Tuesday, “The thought of it is scary. Instead of taking the Mount Road from Saidapet to reach Vepery, I took Nungambakkam High Road to reach College Road and  reached my home through Pantheon Road in Egmore. I was travelling with my kids and didn’t want to take the risk. I didn’t mind an alternate route, even if it meant driving for half-an-hour more,” he says. 

In the time of social media, news travels in real time. On Tuesday, after the news of the cracks were reported, images and videos were shared on social media. Facebook was filled with queries by people whether they should take that stretch. With the latest crack,  memes also resurfaced, dominating the Internet. People turned to technology to find the best routes. “I wasn’t clear on which route to take. I heavily depended on Google Maps to track the traffic before heading out. On Sunday, I was stuck for over an hour and I didn’t want to take the chance on Tuesday,” says S Srikanth, a businessman and a resident of T. Nagar. 

With two consecutive Metro work related road damages in quick succession, the common worry among commuters is whether the road is safe for motor traffic and what is being done to fix the damaged roads. 

According to CMRL officials, whenever there is a road cave in, officials perform grouting on the damaged portion of the road to repair it overnight. Grouting involves scraping/digging the damaged/cracked portion of the road, after which, readymade concrete is poured into it. The repaired portion is temporarily covered with thick metal plates, strong enough to support heavy vehicles rolling over it.