The State Highways Department has carried out temporary patchwork and levelled the potholes on the western side of the service lane of the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) Flyover, Chromepet. Plans are on to carry out a similar exercise on the eastern side of the service lane.
In the second phase, the space beneath the flyover will be landscaped and the service lanes scrapped and re-laid. Construction of tiled walls and work on installing grilled fences in the place of those damaged in cyclone Vardah will also be taken up.
According to a State Highway Department official, the estimated cost for the phased-project is ₹200 lakh.
Following an article in the Tambaram edition of The Hindu Downtown on August 4, 2017, highlighting the issue, the officials carried out the patchwork. The flyover, which was thrown open to public in 2006, provides easy access to the Government Hospital in Tambaram and to Rajendra Prasad Road, Hasthinapuram, and Chitlapakkam Main Road from Grand Southern Trunk Road.
The eastern side of the service lane provides pedestrians access to MIT.
V. Santhanam, president, The New Colony Residents’ Welfare Society, Chromepet, said, “Constant digging by mobile network operators, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board for laying pipes for Chembarambakkam Drinking Water Scheme and Under Ground Drainage system, and by the Tangedco for checking the damaged electric wires during power outages have caused the service lanes to be battered.”