Source : The Hindu Date : 02.07.2009
Subways, bridges beautification work on
Deepa H Ramakrishnan
Corporation recently issued work order for beautification of a pedestrian footpath on the Binny Road bridge
— Photo: R. Ravindran 
SET FOR A MAKEOVER: The pedestrian subway near Kannagi Statue on Kamarajar Salai is one of the facilities that will be improved by the Chennai Corporation.
CHENNAI: As part of its efforts to make subways and bridges bright and colourful, the Chennai Corporation has commenced beautification work on several such facilities.
It recently issued the work order for the beautification of a pedestrian footpath on a bridge on Binny Road and the work has commenced.
As part of the Rs.14.90-lakh work, the civic body plans to replace the hand railing with a wall, paste colourful tiles and relay the footpath. The bridge, which is nearly 50 years old, was last widened in 1993. Hundreds of pedestrians, particularly students of colleges, use the bridge over the Cooum connecting Binny Road and Ethiraj Salai.
The side walls of Parthasarathy Bridge, situated in Mint, would be covered with large tiles.
Though glazed tiles are being pasted in other bridges, the civic body has gone for bigger tiles as the area to be covered is quite large. The estimated project cost would be Rs.46.91 lakh and tenders opened on Friday, an official of Chennai Corporation said.
A pedestrian subway near Kannagi Statue on Kamarajar Salai would be renovated using granite slabs on the side walls and the floor. Additional lighting and new stainless steel hand rails are also to be provided under the Rs.33.60-lakh project.
For the proposed greening of space beneath the flyover on G.N. Chetty Road, bids received from various contractors are being scrutinised. The project is estimated to cost Rs.7.35 lakh.
Work on the beautification of a vehicular subway at Nelson Manickam Road in Nungambakkam at the cost of Rs.35 lakh using glazed tiles depicting the culture and heritage of the State is in progress.
An official of the Corporation said that the beautification efforts were part of the measures to make travelling a little more pleasurable for the residents. Mayor M. Subramanian had announced these works in the budget for this fiscal.