2 flyovers shut at night for 20 days

Chennai: The Dr Radhakrishnan Salai-Royapettah Road Junction flyover and the one at the Dr Radha­kr­ishnan Salai-T.T.K. Road Junction will remain closed at night for the next 20 days.

A press release from the Ripon Buildings said that the rep­lacement of strip seals and expansion joints wo­­uld be done on the bridges from 10 pm to 6 am. Vehicles need to ta­ke the service roads at night while temporary ramps would be provided over the newly rep­laced expansion to manage traffic flow in the daytime.

The press release said that the corporation has decided to replace the strip seal expansion jo­ints on nine flyovers that were constructed 12 years ago. Those at Pan­theon Road, Doveton Junction and two on Pet­ers Road have already been provided with new strip seal expansion joints. Restoration wo­rks are also going on the Kodambakkam Bridge at night.

“There are a few bu­mps across the Koda­mbakkam bridge which spoils a smooth ride ov­er the bridge,” said Ran­ganathan, who regularly uses the bridge. “I am not sure that these were created while restoring the bridge, but they sho­uld be levelled for a saf­er ride,” he added.

On the other hand, a few bridges and subw­ays have remained clo­sed for a long time. The long treading work on Mint Bridge came to an end, but the bridge is yet to be thrown open to vehicles. Similarly, the Stanley subway also awaits opening.

Next: Intense drive against tax defaulters

Intense drive against tax defaulters

Chennai: Both the Chennai metro water and Chennai corporation have intensif­ied their drive against water and property tax defaulters.

With the financial year coming to an end, area offices are now dispersing show cause notices to defaulters. Corp­or­a­t­ion tax collectors are now assessing the data related to tax payers, targeting those with arr­ears to pay.
If the arrears ran into several lakhs of rupees, warning boards would be put up on the property site. The corporation has estimated to collect around Rs 550 crore this year, a target for which a schedule has been drawn up. “We are working to­wards the target,” a corporation official said, adding that the civic bo­dy would also kickstart a campaign.

Corporation employees working on flyover at Mylapore-Royapettah junction in the city on Friday. — DC

Announcements were also made recently thro­ugh auto rickshaws. Restaurants and hotels failing to pay their taxes on time could have their commercial licences ca­ncelled, another official said, adding that posh areas like Nungam­ba­kkam and Anna Salai, always had their share of tax defaulters.

Meanwhile, metro wa­ter engineers have also started dispersing show cause notices, warning residents that the water supply would be cut if the water charges and tax were not paid on time.
Surcharge would be collected from those not paying the charges on time, and if the situation persisted, the water lines would be snapped at the households or co­m­mercial units of defa­u­lters, a metro water engineer said.

“Citizens can pay the fee at the nearby metro water depot and area offices. Counter staff have been advised to be friendly with tax payers to encourage th­em to come forward and pay up before the deadline,” the engineer added.