Greater Chennai Corporation to begin relaying roads in January

GCC to resume relaying 2,200 roads in January; 3,500 potholes of 7,585 identified repaired by Dec 22.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will resume relaying approximately 2,200 roads in January and expects to complete the work in a month. The tender process was completed earlier, and the wait was for the monsoon to pass, said G.S Sameeran, Joint Commissioner (JC) (Works).

He said relaying work was not time-consuming, and it would be undertaken across zones parallelly under multiple schemes. “Once the rain fully subsides, we will begin relaying work. Wherever there is milling required, it will be done. This will take roughly 10-15 days to be completed. Apart from this, other areas can be done in a week,” he added.

According to Mr. Sameeran: “We have many roads to repair in this financial year, which will begin after January. In the South region alone, there are 600-700 roads in some areas that need relaying, and 300 in a few other spots. We halted since monsoon was approaching, and new roads may not withstand the downpour.”

According to the Policy Note 2023-24 of the Municipal Administration And Water Supply Department: “The city has 1,687 km of roads. In this direction, 211 km of roads have been laid during 2021-22 and 2022-23, and 171 km of roads has been proposed for relaying in 2023-24.”

By October 11, as per the Corporation, of the six bus route roads in zones 1, 2, 5, 10, 12, and 13, milling work has been done on two and relaying in four, under the Tamil Nadu Urban Road Infrastructure Fund (Turif) 2023-2024. Further, of the 38 interior roads, 21 roads have been laid in coordination with the Greater Chennai Police, under the Nagarpura Salai Mempattu Thittam (NSMT).

As of October 12, 3,877 road works have been completed in areas under the GCC, said K.N. Nehru, Minister for Municipal Administration, Urban and Water Suppl, in a press conference previously.

Currently, the civic body is patching up roads across the city after they were damaged during the cyclone, Mr. Sameeran said.