Madras high court asks for status report on city roads

CHENNAI: Expressing concern over non-maintenance of roads in the city, the Madras high court on Tuesday directed the commissioner of Chennai corporation to file a status report on the condition of the roads and the amount spent to maintain them.

A division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad also directed the state highways secretary to file a similar report on the condition of the roads across the state.

The bench passed the interim order while suo motu impleading the two officials in a PIL moved by R Murali seeking direction to restrain the Perungalathur town panchayat from relaying roads without milling the existing road.

When the plea came for hearing, the bench wondered whether laying and relaying of roads are done in accordance with the prescribed guidelines. The bench observed that except for a few arterial roads - like Kamarajar Salai - many roads in the city are not maintained properly.

To this, the authorities submitted that the roads are laid as per the standards, and that, they are damaged due to the work undertaken by other authorities, like the TNEB and BSNL, to lay pipelines or cables.

Since the organizations that dig the roads take time to ensure there is no leakage in the pipes laid, it takes over three months to repair such roads and the excavations made by them, the officer added.

According to the petitioner, the panchayat authorities are trying to relay roads without milling the existing roads. This increased the height of the roads causing inconvenience, like flooding, to the residents, Murali said.

Responding to the plea, E Manoharan, additional government pleader, submitted that the panchayat has already taken a decision to relay roads only after milling the existing ones.

Recording the submissions, the bench said that there are instances where damaged roads were not repaired for a long time by the Chennai corporation and the state highways, causing much inconvenience to the public.