The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Sand-laden vehicles take a heavy toll on road

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Sand-laden vehicles take a heavy toll on road

K. Manikandan

Tambaram-Somangalam stretch bears the brunt of cargo

ON A RUINED ROUTE: Lorries transporting sand and stones on the Tambaram-Somangalam road. — Photo: K. Manikandan

TAMBARAM : The road connecting Tambaram and Somangalam is an example of one road getting completely damaged for the sake of laying another.

Hundreds of heavy vehicles have been plying on this road, transporting mined mud, sand and stones meant for construction works including the widening of the Chennai bypass road connecting Irumbuliyur and Madhuravoyal.

For the past three months, work has been on to scoop out mud from the dry areas of Naduveerapattu. Though heavy vehicles have been transporting construction materials for a long time, the road has been getting worse only in the past three months. The reason is that vehicles with a capacity to carry nearly 10 tonnes of cargo are operated and moreover, nearly 100 trips are made everyday.

The extent of damage is so much that the entire stretch of the road between Tambaram and Naduveerapattu has to be re-laid.

Workers of the Highways Department were seen executing basic repair and patch works on this road.

They said the road was not designed to withstand vehicles with a capacity of 10 tonnes.

Residents pointed out there were two engineering college and there was a heavy flow of traffic on this road as it was the route from Tambaram to many villages in Sriperumbudur taluk.

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation operates more than a dozen services to Somangalam, Naduveerapattu, and Pazhanthandalam, among other places.

Commuters too complained that travel was getting worse by the day.

Residents and students of engineering colleges said they welcomed the efforts to improve quality of National and State Highways but authorities should ensure that important links connecting villages and small towns with important centres are not affected.

Officials of Highways Department said improvement works on this road were long pending and a proposal for widening and re-laying this road at a cost of Rs. 3 crore had received sanction from the Government.

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