Raised manhole lids menace riders on Perambur road

CHENNAI: Already riddled with potholes, the 70-Feet Road in Perambur has been rendered even more uneven by the elevated concrete lids of storm water drain (SWD) manholes, posing accident risks on the 500m stretch. Now known as Siva Elango Road, the arterial thoroughfare links the southern and northern parts of north Chennai.
Three years ago, the Greater Chennai Corporation developed Siva Elango Road, which falls under leader of opposition M K Stalin’s Kolathur constituency, as a model road. Periyar Nagar resident S Sreedharan, a social activist, said, “When the road was laid three years ago, the civic body paved the road median with plants. The median was also fitted with lights but they have not worked for two years and the road has been neglected.”
The road is also prone to stagnation due to overflow from a 3-foot deep pond on its path. A regular user of the road R Rahul said, “The road gets inundated during heavy rainfall, forcing motorists to take longer routes. The portion of the road near the pond needs to be raised.”
The raised SWD lids came up in the middle of the road a year ago, bifurcating the stretch in two. When contacted, a civic body official assured that the road will be relaid within months. “When we build a new road, we will ensure that it aligns with the protruding SWD lids.”
The civic body is replacing the 50-year-old underground sewerage pipelines in Perambur with new ones. The official said the pipeline replacement work will be taken up in Siva Elango Road soon, following which a new road will be constructed. Sreedharan, who petitioned the civic body for a new road, said, “They have been promising to take up pipeline work for more than six months now. But nothing has materialised.”