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Chennai Weather: Patched-Up City Roads Crumble Under Drizzle

  • The mild showers since Wednesday night, in the wake of cyclone Thane, were enough to render most city roads useless. The recently done patch-works were washed away and several stretches were knee-deep in water. With the weatherman predicting that the rains will become heavier, motorists are fearing the worst.On Thursday, the busy Valluvar Kottam High Road was waterlogged. Construction debris poured into several potholes on the stretch was washed away and it was an unbearable experience for many motorists - some vehicles skidded and others got stuck in the potholes. Other stretches like G N Chetty Road, Perambur High Road, Ennore High Road, Kolathur, Velachery Main Road, Thanikachalam Chetty Road, Arunachala Naicken Street and GP Road were also affected as were roads in the newly added areas of the city. A corporation official said, "We visited some stretches and an analysis can be made only after reports from all 15 zones."
  • Several commuters blamed the civic body. "It's difficult commuting on this stretch due to the potholes. On Monday, a motorist fell into one. The civic body has poured some debris to cover the potholes but now the entire stretch is full of slush," said Hari Haran, who works in a medical shop near Valluvar Kottam. Some corporation officials blamed the 'debris.' "Debris was used for patch-work on a majority of the roads while hot-mix was used on other stretches. The 'debris' is only for 'temporary' arrangements," said a senior official. Following instructions from the commissioner, officials patched up about 70,000 sq m of 1,500 roads with debris and black-topped some 5,500 sq m of roads in 10 days. "Every year, there will be some visits by some officials and announcements made but the situation is the same. The roads maintained by the highways department are better than those maintained by the corporation" said Arun Kumar of Nandanam.
  • Adding to the chaos, traffic signals at crucial junctions didn't function. While junctions on Poonamallee High Road, Pantheon Road and Mandaveli and even Cenotaph Road were manned by traffic constables, there was complete confusion at unmanned junctions in Basin Bridge, Nandanam and Royapettah among others.

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