Pit dug for pipe laying, no fence, warning signs: Anakaputhur locals

CHENNAI: A pit dug up for pipe laying left open without barricades is putting lives at risk near the 30-feet road at the junction of Gowthaman street and Balaji Nagar 12th street at Anakaputhur near Pallavaram.

This unfenced pit has irked locals more as the pipe laying work is allegedly moving at a snail’s pace. “The work started a couple of weeks ago. The work could have been completed at a fast pace. The officials are not bothered about the sufferings of the public. The road users suffer every day because of the unsafe pit,” lamented B Ravi Kumar, who takes the road regularly to reach his office at Pallavaram.

But municipality authorities of Pammal and Anakaputhur denied the allegation the work is on a slow pace. They said the pipe line work is moving on time. A senior official from the Anakaputhur municipality said “there is a lot of concrete work involved. The drying of cement takes time and therefore. We have to wait for it”, he said.

B Jayanth, a college going student, who is staying in Balaji Nagar said, “since the road was damaged, we have to take at least an additional one kilometre detour taking an alternative way to reach the main road.”

R Gayathiri, who wanted to participate in a ceremony, which was held at Balaji Nagar 12th street, could not proceed as her taxi driver refused to take an alternative route. “He stopped abruptly after knowing about the road. I had to walk 500 metres to reach my destination”, she claimed.

There is no fence or warning signs at the dug up places, residents allege. The roads are completely damaged and unwary four-wheelers who reach the road are forced to reverse the vehicle to take diversion, which is a usual happening here, said some of the residents.