Residents block Old Bypass Road in Vellore over delay in completing drainage work

Protest in Vellore over delayed UGD pipeline work causing business disruptions, uneven roads, and damaged cables.

Residents, mostly traders and merchants, blocked the Old Bypass Road in Vellore on Tuesday in protest against undue delay in laying pipelines for Underground Drainage system (UGD).

Traders said the stretch towards Katpadi was dug up more than four months ago. Mud from the trench was dumped on the service lane of the stretch where wholesale shops, mostly automobile shops, are located.

“Day to day business is completely affected due to the delay in re-laying of the road. Goods in shops also gather dust and customers hesitate to visit our shops because they can’t park their vehicles,” said Mohammed Ismail, a wholesale trader.

The pipeline laying work for the project has turned the bitumen stretch into an uneven pathway affecting pedestrians. Traffic has been closed on the part of the stretch where work is in progress. Cables were also damaged during the course of work, affecting internet services on the route.

The Old Bypass Road has been the hub for Vellore town in terms of automobile and electronic goods since the early 1970s. Corporation officials said that the ₹1,000 crore-project, which is divided into four phases, covers 750 km of sewer lines, 16 pumping and lifting stations and two large STPs. In the first phase that covers Collectorate and Konavattam areas, sewer lines, pumping station and one STP were built, covering wards 1-10.

Work on the service lane of Chennai - Bengaluru Highway, 16 railway crossing spots, State Highway stretches (7 km), inaccessible narrow streets (14 km) are being done.

Corporation officials said that Old Bypass Road comes as part of service lane work on the highway. Existing large water pipelines on the stretch remained a key challenge in laying drainage pipelines as civic workers were careful not to damage water pipelines. “Of the 1 km stretch, work on the remaining 300 m stretch has to be completed. We have asked the contractor to complete the work in 15 days,” P. Janaki Raveendran, Commissioner, Vellore Corporation, told The Hindu.