Chennai: Driving though the dark, dingy and damp railway under bridges (RUB) is a nightmare for all Chennaiites. They are devoid of proper lighting, roads and drainage system.
T. Nagar, Chetpet, Thillaiganganagar, Palavanthangal, Perambur and Meenambakkam are some of the RUBs with no proper facilities posing a risk of accidents.
“Thillaiganganagar subway is poorly illuminated and moreover, it is curved. The rainwater causes seepage damaging roads and each time the corporation repairs it, they get back to being worse within very less time. A lot of accidents happen at night that go unreported,” said Narayanan, an activist.
The Duraiswamy RUB in T.Nagar is very small that two buses can’t pass by at the same time. “At around 11:30 pm in the night one Friday night, two speeding cars collided in the subway because of the poor lighting,” said Sri Prabhat, a resident.
Aranganathan and Madly RUBs are also alike as the road is chipped on one side of the bridge and water often stagnated. Escaping without a punctured tire is rare.
“Perambur railway under bridge has water leaking from the roof and the corporation authorities have turned a blind eye to the issue. Numerous residents associations have also written letters regarding the problem. In rainy season, it is almost impossible to pass through the RUB,” rued Karthik Ramasubramanian, a local resident.
Residents of Meenambakkam say the RUB in the area witnesses at least one accident in a week. “Zooming vehicles fly into the air as speed breakers on the either sides of the bridge are not marked. This eventually leads to a collision,” said Rajeswari, an inhabitant of the area.
Chetpet railway station has also been facing a similar problem for a long time now with the sodium lights not being replaced and drains clogged.
When contacted, a corporation official said the issue will be taken up with the electrical department. Poor illumination will be addressed by replacing old bulbs with LED and other civic issues will be attended to, the official added.
