Close To A Decade People Waiting For This Road To Be Laid

The underpass at Nallampalayam in the city is a shambles. Residents of Ward 65 in the city are a harried lot. For close to a decade, they have been waiting for the road to be laid at an underpass (below a railway bridge), but there is no sign of any work taking off. The residents’ plight came back into sharp focus recently when a vehicle got stuck in what is to be understood as a road. They staged a road blockade to demand that the road be laid soon. At present, they are using a narrow stretch along the underpass for two-way traffic.

The underpass is meant to link Nallampalayam with Mettupalayam Road. But, using it is an ordeal, especially during rain, the residents say. “We do not know why the work is not being taken up,” says K. Anandakumar, who pursued the case of the underpass with the authorities of both the Corporation and the Southern Railway as long as he was the councillor of the ward (till October 2006).

Mr. Anandakumar has now briefed Mayor R. Venkatachalam on the issue and hopes that some concerted efforts are made to lay the road. Originally, a stretch of about 20 ft was not laid because of an objection from the Chief Bridges Inspector of the Railways in Chennai. The objection was made through a letter on August 5, 2002. It expressed fears of the bridge getting weakened because of the road work.

This put a stop to the road work the Corporation had taken up after claiming it had got the clearance from the Southern Railway authorities. It has been a standstill since then. Way back in 1998, the Corporation had told the Railway authorities in a letter that the underpass would serve as a bypass to link Sathyamangalam Road with Mettupalayam Road. To the Railways concern that a jungle stream was being turned into a road and that the works would affect the stability of the bridge, the Corporation responded in 2000 with a letter from Mayor V. Gopalakrishnan to Southern Railway General Manager N. Keerthivasan that there was jungle stream. In fact, the bridge itself had been constructed to facilitate a waterway below. Later, the road was formed as colonies came up in that area.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan said the Corporation would carry out the works with its funds and as per the specifications of the Railways. He also pointed out that there was no alternative site for the road and therefore the Railways’ clearance was necessary for this project to be completed. The Corporation also promised to build structures that were necessary to prevent the stagnation of water at the underpass. It also assured the Railways to put up height guards to prevent heavy vehicles from using this stretch and getting stuck at the underpass.

After the objection to the work in August 2002 and the Corporation taking up this issue with the Railways again, the Chief Bridges Inspector cleared the work in December that year. The Corporation Council also approved at its meeting on June 27, 2003 the payment of way leave charges of close to Rs.10.50 lakh to the Railways. The councillor admits that a permanent solution lies only in laying a good road. This will have to be taken up with Mayor R. Venkatachalam.

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