Chennai
GCC sources said the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure and Financial Services (TNUIFSL) was approached for a detailed project report (DPR) in 2009-10 and after much interaction with the railways, an estimate for Rs 62 crores was made.
Metro Water demanded Rs 9 crores to shift water lines and the railways also demanded a similar amount to construct large ducts to carry water and power lines. Suddenly, the Highways Department ordered stoppage of work as a grade separator (ROB) at Erukancheri (to be completed in 2013) was planned. Due to ROB work all vehicles would have to be diverted via Ganesapuram, it was argued.
With just one arm of the Erukancheri ROB opened recently and work on the other yet to be completed, GCC went in for a new assessment in 2015 when it was realised that the delayed work would cost between Rs 210 and Rs 220 crores.
Sources said “GCC which spends crores on many city projects could easily build the entire ROB, including the portion above the track if they allow us to.” But the portion above the track can be built only by the railways.
The road broadens on either side of the underpass but about a 50-feet stretch below the railway tracks is a two-wheeler rider’s nightmare. The stretch has broken stones and rubble making driving unsafe. Sewage flows into the underpass making the area messy. Traffic below the underpass stops whenever express trains (not suburban EMUs) pass overhead with vehicle riders fearing getting drenched by urine or faecal matter from train toilets. Prem a local resident says, “there has been no change in this bridge for over thirty years. During rain, the underpass is flooded and two-wheeler riders cannot use it and only buses and heavy vehicles can push through.”
Ganesh of Vyasarnagar said, “One wonders why this area has seen no improvement despite the Perambur railway underpass getting a flyover which we use when the Jeeva underpass is flooded?”
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