Highways Department resumes storm-water drain construction on arterial roads

The work on Anna Salai-General Patters Road could not be completed as there were many utility lines criss-crossing the area and the road, which was dug up before the monsoon, had to restored

The Highways Department has resumed work to construct portions of storm-water drains at various points in the city. These works were put on hold after the rains began last monsoon. The stretches on Wall Tax Road, Poonamallee High Road, Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and on Anna Salai will be completed in a few weeks.  

Sources in the department said that the missing links to the drain network will be constructed soon. On Anna Salai, six locations, including Dargah, General Patters Road, and AG DMS bus stop will see completion of a cumulative length of 600m of drain. 

On Poonamallee High Road, work is on near the Dasaprakash junction, Gengu Reddy subway and in front of the Ega cinema for a cumulative length of 150m. On Jawaharlal Nehru Salai (100ft road), work is on near Ashok Pillar and in front of Kasi cinema for a cumulative drain length of 1 km. On Wall Tax Road, the work is to be carried out for a length of 200m near Perumal Koil Garden Street. 

The department is carrying out works under various heads such as permanent flood restoration works of 2020, CRIDP 2020 – 2021 and 2021- 2022 and recommendation of the Thirupugazh Committee in 2022. The cost of these works is ₹68 crore and the cumulative length of the work being 4.2 km with box structures covering a length of 197m. 

The work at the junction of Anna Salai and General Patters Road and running across Anna Salai that would carry water to the nearby Cooum river could not be completed though the road was dug up before the monsoon. “We had to stop it and restore the road since there were many water mains and lines running underground and they could not be disturbed without involving the respective line departments. Now, we have requested those departments to shift the lines so that this macro drain could be constructed,” the source said. Such issues are commonly encountered during the construction of storm-water drains. However, delays happened last year due to heavy traffic movement on these roads during the day time.