Chennai: Continuous rain in coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and the incessant rains last week in Chennai have battered several stretches of state and national highways connecting Chennai with other cities. Besides delaying the journey time for heavy vehicles the tattered stretches with potholes are now death traps for two-wheeler riders. “Journey time between Chennai and other cities like Tiruchy, Vellore, Bangalore and Tirupati has increased from half an hour to one hour and the state administration has men and machinery only to bail out storm water and there is hardly any effort to fix the pot holes,” said Sukumar Babu, former floor leader of Chennai corporation. Traders, vendors and regular travelers between Chennai and other cities have been suffering bad roads for the past one month, he added.
Chennai despite being the nerve centre of Tamil Nadu road connectivity it has been neglected and the traffic chokes near Perungalthur. After Dindivanam roads are pathetic,” E Manikandan, CITU state secretary, State Express Transport Corporation. “The usual travel time between Koyambedu and Tiruchy in a Volvo bus is around five and half hours, but now the travel time extends by at least one hour due to bad roads,” said J. Khaja Moideen, who works for a popular travel agency. In case of rains the delay is even further due to water logging. This puts immense stress on the drivers. His friends, who use the National Highway 48 between Chennai and Bangalore also suffer traffic snarls between Chennai – Sriperumbudur, he added.
When contacted a senior state official said roads have been cut in several parts of Kancheepuram to facilitate free flow of water and this we are attending. In case of national highways, the central authority has outsourced the maintenance to private contractors and it is for the toll operators to address the issues. In Chennai, the corporation has been advised to repair the roads when the sun shines. As a temporary arrangement debris is being used to fill pot holes in city, the official added.
