Shoddy road work creates problems for residents of Chinnalapatti

Shoddy road work creates problems for residents of Chinnalapatti

The Chinnalapatti - Pooncholai road, ‘bus stand road’ on popular parlance, which is about one km, was relaid at a cost of ₹6 crore. The road work that has been going on for about seven months also involved covering of the drainage on the sides of the road with concrete slabs. But within a few weeks, the slabs covering the drains, built-like culverts, near spots from where lanes to residential areas diverge, have started crumbling.

According to Mohan, a DMK party worker, this problem happened as workers had failed to do the curing properly by watering the slabs. But residents say that in all the 21 intersections that lead to various streets, even when a two-wheeler passes the stretch, the concrete is breaking. Recently, two persons were injured when the slabs gave way as they were crossing the stretch on their motorcycles. This triggered fear among people and an agitation was staged recently.

BJP cadre Vikesh, who led the agitation, said that a large quantity of m-sand was used for the shoddily-executed work. “We gave up the agitation only after Highway officials said that they will relay all the 21 slabs.”

“Now, work has again begun and the existing slabs are being demolished. But this will not solve the problem,” say shopkeepers on the stretch. They fear that all the slabs that are covering the drainage may break in the long run and this could lead to major accidents. Pointing to the shoddy work, one of the shopkeepers said that as very less cement was used the slabs were brittle in nature and were unable to withstand heavy load.

According to a Highways official, only minor cracks had developed and work had begun to rectify the problem.