The Deccan Chronicle 21.10.2010
Massive road repairs start before monsoonOct. 20: A massive drive has been launched to relay roads and finish pending roadwork before the monsoon sets in. After a brainstorming session on Wednesday, the corporation’s top brass decided to take up the work on a war-footing. Inaugurating the drive at Valluvarkottam on Wednesday, Mayor M. Subramanian said the corporation would spend Rs 7.50 crore to relay and repair battered roads. On the instructions of chief minister M. Karunanidhi to repair the roads, the corporation had so far identified as many as 314 battered bus routes in the city.
Repair work on 4.12 lakh squares of various roads will be taken up, the total cost for which will be Rs 11 crore. To ensure early completion of the project, the corporation has appointed 10 superintending engineers as nodal officers for the operation. Within 10 days, roads will be identified and repaired with corporation men working round the clock. The corporation website will keep the public posted on the repair work.
Work is underway in several places and tenders have been settled for stretches on which work is yet to begin. Thiruvottiyur High Road, Cemetery Road, NSC Bose Road, Paper Mills Road, Bharathi Salai, Valluvarkottam High Road, Gandhi Irwin Road, Velachery High Road, Anna Nagar Second and Third Avenue, Pallavan Salai, GN Chetty Road, Usman Road, Nelson Manickam Road, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Sardar Patel Road, Kodambakkam High Road, Ashok Pillar Road, Muthulakshmi Salai and Dr Ambedkar Colle Road are among the prominent roads that have been identified for repair.
However, senior corporation engineers warned that prevailing weather conditions in Chennai are not conducive for major roadwork and the repairs could be disrupted by sudden rain. The corporation has also not finalised a schedule for the relaying of interior roads, which are in equally bad shape after the recent showers.
