Following complaints from truckers, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has expedited repair works along the Madhavaram-Tada stretch of the Chennai-Kolkata highway.
A senior NHAI official said that they had started repairing damaged portions at key junctions on the highway including Puzhal, Sothukuppam and Vadakarai. Work along the first 10-km (between Madhavaram and Nallur) is likely to be completed in one week. After patchwork, this entire portion will be overlaid at `38 crore. A few missing drains will also be constructed to ensure that there is no excessive water stagnation, the official said.
The recent rain left several portions of the accident-prone national highway battered. Apart from huge craters and dangerous potholes, the entire service road is damaged and has become non-motorable, said S Yuvraj from Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners’ Association in his complaint to the local police. “Some portions of the highway still have only two lanes (for example, Sholavaram bridge above Kosasthalaiyar river) and most of the service roads are narrower than prescribed standards. Even then, the NHAI collects full toll,” said Yuvraj.
NHAI officials said he highway was widened into a four-lane road way back in 2009 but it could not be expanded further into a six-lane road due to land acquisition issues. The central agency is preparing a detailed project report (DPR) to build an elevated road from Madhavaram to Nallur.