The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Crucial link road near Tambaram in shambles

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Thursday, May 29, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Crucial link road near Tambaram in shambles

K. Manikandan

It was laid at the cost of Rs. 40 lakh in 2002

Photo: A.Muralitharan

Crying for attention: A ride on the battered Chitlapakkam - Sembakkam Main Road is an ordeal for motorists. —

TAMBARAM: A little over five years after it was laid, a crucial cement concrete link road near Tambaram has been severely battered.

Chitlapakkam-Sembakkam Main Road, about 2.5 km-long and built at the cost of Rs. 40 lakh in 2002, is in such a condition that it might not be easy to carry out patchwork.

The road is crucial considering that it links Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road near Chromepet with Velachery Main Road at Mahalakshmi Nagar after passing through Chitlapakkam and Sembakkam.

Under the maintenance of St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union (also called St.Thomas Mount Block), it was laid with a sum of Rs. 30 lakh sanctioned from the funds of V. Maitreyan, AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP, and the rest from the general funds of St. Thomas Mount Block.

And today, the road is pothole-ridden, making a ride miserable for motorists. Santhanagopalan, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam councillor from Ward No. 9 of Chitlapakkam town panchayat, attributed the problems to the failure of St.Thomas Mount Block authorities to carry out periodical maintenance works.

“Most local bodies prefer cement concrete roads to bitumen topped roads owing to their longevity, despite being expensive. But this road did not last even for six years owing to lack of regular maintenance,” Mr. Santhanagopalan said. Authorities at the St. Thomas Mount Block said they would be attending to the problems shortly.

Enquiries with officials of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply revealed that maintenance of roads, which ever surface they may be, was not an easy task. The difference in the cost of laying bitumen topped roads and cement concrete roads was not huge, but the cement roads had a longer life span.

Bitumen topped roads laid in residential localities and able to withstand light commercial vehicles had a projected life span of five years. Based on prevailing market rates, the average cost of laying one km of bitumen topped road was about Rs.60 lakh, while the cost of laying cement concrete roads under similar traffic conditions would be nothing less than Rs.75 lakh.

The average cost, the officials said, was based on the usual width of 3.75 metres in residential pockets, while it varied in other locations. Bitumen topped roads would incur a maintenance expenditure of five per cent of the project cost in the first year, 10 per cent in the second and so on.

Residents and members of civic groups in Tambaram said that problems arose as there was complete lack of transparency while laying roads.

They pointed to a cement concrete road in Mahalakshmi Nagar, whose work was stopped midway a couple of years ago as the contractor was allegedly using inferior quality materials.

They also cited the case a bitumen topped road in New Balaji Nagar of Tambaram Municipality that has been in a good condition for nearly 10 years after it was laid as the residents ensured 100 per cent utilisation of funds.

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