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• Here's some good news to cheer you on in the New Year: In the next six months, roads in Chennai will be motorable again. With a budget of Rs 50 crore, the Chennai Corporation has started relaying roads in the city and has already started work on the Nelson Manickam Road.Corporation officials said they had been given a period of six months to relay nearly 78km of city roads. "We have started the milling works on Nelson Manickam Road. The labourers start work at midnight and it goes on till 4am," said an official.All major stretches, including Dr Ambedkar College Road in Vysarpadi, Perambur High Road, Konnur High Road, Nelson Manickam Road and Kaliamman Koil Street in Virugambakkam, are expected to get a new bituminous layer by June.
• Over 121 bus routes fall in this 78km. "After this, we will be take up the interior roads. Initially, we will work on roads that have been battered the most. We expect to finish the work on Nelson Manickam Road in a month," said the official.Roads in most parts of the city had become a nightmare for motorists after the recent rains. Experts said that once the roads were laid properly in accordance with the norms of the Indian Roads Congress, it should not be taken up for maintenance for at least five years.The civic body claims to have personally monitored the relaying of bus route roads and more than 1,000 interior roads earlier this year. "We made sure that the roads were thick. It was perfect, but we do not know why the roads did not withstand the rains," said an official.
• Experts say the thickness of a road alone will not help during the rains. "Ideally, the middle of the road should be raised and there should be slopes on both sides of the road. This way the water will not stagnate causing the bitumen to strip of the road. There should be proper stormwater drains on both sides of the road so that water can drain away," said K P Subramanian, former professor of Urban Engineering in Anna University.Subramanian said that another problem affecting road relaying work was that the money allocated for road works was not used for the same.Both officials and motorists are hoping that this time around the roads will actually stand the test of time.

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