Corpn to drop building 6 bridges linking ECR-OMR

According to a Corporation source, the Inland Waterways Authority of India has refused to accord permission to construct the bridges as it wants them built six metres above water level. When asked, an official said that increasing the height of the bridges would increase the length too. The civic body could not provide ramping on either side as the streets are too narrow. 

"New bridges cannot be built as per the Authority's wishes and there is no other way to construct them, " he added. The civic body decided to construct bridges as the existing ones linking the two major roads are so narrow that only a car could pass through at a time. Due to this, traffic snarls occur in the areas along OMR and ECR. Following this, the civic body had conducted a soil test and decided to demolish the existing bridges and build the two-lane bridges. New bridges would have been built to connect Elango Nagar – Venkatesapuram, Elango Nagar – Gandhi Street, Veeramani Salai – Maniammai Salai, Estate Main Road – Maniammai Street, Anna Nagar – Pandian Salai and Subramaniya Nagar – Masjid Street between Kottivakkam and Neelangarai. At present, there are only three major links between OMR and ECR between Thiruvanmiyur and Navallur. Of the three, two are located at Thiruvanmiyur and are close to each other by only 700 metres. The third link – Sholinganallur Main Road - is 10 km away from the first two links.