Chennai: There is nothing unusual for a subway or bridge project in Chennai to get delayed due to factors such as weather conditions, political conflicts, lack of funds or contractor's apathy but for the first time, a civic project in T Nagar is now delayed due to an illegal building.
Renovation of congested Madley road subway in T Nagar, a long pending demand of residents, is likely to be delayed further due to the ongoing Chennai Silks demolition work that has been making headlines since last month.
The traffic diversions that were to be implemented from Monday were recalled, owing to the demolition work of Chennai Silks multi storey buildings.
"We cannot carry out the renovation work as the commuters are facing traffic congestion in T Nagar after the fire accident, work on the subway will worsen the situations," a senior officer from traffic police department told Deccan Chronicle.
While corporation officials say the demolition will take around two more weeks, traffic diversions irks motorists and commuters daily. The usually busy Usman Road is not yet open to public adding to traffic woes of commuters in T Nagar.
The motorists on arterial roads of T Nagar are facing the agony of traffic congestion even after a fortnight of the fire accident.
"It used to take around 10 minutes to ride to Kodambakkam from T Nagar, but now it takes around half an hour, as the traffic is diverted through Burkit road and Venkatnarayana road," said S Shrividya, a regular commuter in T Nagar.
While the pace of development at T Nagar is at halt, the marketing hub is far from normalcy. Owing to the state of shock that haunts the public, traders are having a tough business.
"The accident has affected our business immensely as daily footfall has reduced by half. We had to close down our shops for a few days and business has not taken up briskly after that," said S Vignesh, shopkeeper in T Nagar.
