Sloppy road repairs leave Chromepet residents unhappy
Shruti.Suresh@timesgroup.com
Chennai: 08.02.2019
Residents in Chromepet and Pallavaram are apprehensive about the Pallavaram municipality’s plans to relay several roads saying they won’t be milled properly, which could lead to flooding when it rains. Milling is the process of removing previous layers so that the height of the road does not rise with every relaying.
The fears were sparked by the way VOC Street and Hanumar Koil Street were relaid over six days ago. While VOC Street was milled and relaid, Hanumar Koil Street, which was in good shape to begin with, just got a fresh layer of bitumen that is already coming off in patches.
“We were informed that only patchwork will be carried out to fill road cuts as the rest of the Hanumar Koil Street was in a good condition. But in two nights, the entire stretch was laid,” said David Manohar, a civic activist.
Shops and houses along Hanumar Koil Stree are already low-lying with water entering the premises every rainy season. Now, the height of the road has increased by more than an inch. “We have put a concrete strip to prevent rainwater from entering, but each time the road is relaid our houses end up even lower compared to the street level,” said a hardware store owner.
Madras HC had ordered that road height should be maintained and that none can be re-laid without milling the existing road.
Chromepet residents’ fears that the roads won’t be milled appear justified. Tender documents accessed by TOI for package seven, which includes relaying of more than ten roads in wards 19, 21 and 22 of Chromepet show that only one (Mageswari Nagar 1st Street) was to be milled. “Krishna Nagar 1st , 2nd , and 3rd streets have not been relaid in 10 years. Even now, if milling is not done, it will lead to heavy inundation during rains,” said Udaya, a resident. He added that gravel was laid in patches to cover road cuts, which had led to bumpy stretches.
Officials in the municipality said that only in the case of extremely worn out roads, was milling done before relaying then. “VOC Street was completely worn out and was milled and relaid. But the rest of the roads had only minor damage. If milling was done, then the entire base would have had to be removed. So, the top layer of bitumen was alone provided,” said the municipal engineer, Karuppiah Raja. He added that when the roads are relaid again, all four needed layers will be milled and relaid.
INADEQUATE WORK: Newly-laid Hanumar Koil Street near Hasthinapauram in Chromepet
Shruti.Suresh@timesgroup.com
Chennai: 08.02.2019
Residents in Chromepet and Pallavaram are apprehensive about the Pallavaram municipality’s plans to relay several roads saying they won’t be milled properly, which could lead to flooding when it rains. Milling is the process of removing previous layers so that the height of the road does not rise with every relaying.
The fears were sparked by the way VOC Street and Hanumar Koil Street were relaid over six days ago. While VOC Street was milled and relaid, Hanumar Koil Street, which was in good shape to begin with, just got a fresh layer of bitumen that is already coming off in patches.
“We were informed that only patchwork will be carried out to fill road cuts as the rest of the Hanumar Koil Street was in a good condition. But in two nights, the entire stretch was laid,” said David Manohar, a civic activist.
Shops and houses along Hanumar Koil Stree are already low-lying with water entering the premises every rainy season. Now, the height of the road has increased by more than an inch. “We have put a concrete strip to prevent rainwater from entering, but each time the road is relaid our houses end up even lower compared to the street level,” said a hardware store owner.
Madras HC had ordered that road height should be maintained and that none can be re-laid without milling the existing road.
Chromepet residents’ fears that the roads won’t be milled appear justified. Tender documents accessed by TOI for package seven, which includes relaying of more than ten roads in wards 19, 21 and 22 of Chromepet show that only one (Mageswari Nagar 1st Street) was to be milled. “Krishna Nagar 1st , 2nd , and 3rd streets have not been relaid in 10 years. Even now, if milling is not done, it will lead to heavy inundation during rains,” said Udaya, a resident. He added that gravel was laid in patches to cover road cuts, which had led to bumpy stretches.
Officials in the municipality said that only in the case of extremely worn out roads, was milling done before relaying then. “VOC Street was completely worn out and was milled and relaid. But the rest of the roads had only minor damage. If milling was done, then the entire base would have had to be removed. So, the top layer of bitumen was alone provided,” said the municipal engineer, Karuppiah Raja. He added that when the roads are relaid again, all four needed layers will be milled and relaid.
INADEQUATE WORK: Newly-laid Hanumar Koil Street near Hasthinapauram in Chromepet
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