CHENNAI: Consider this experiment. Hold a hot cup of coffee and drive through any arterial road in Chennai. Even if you stick to the legal speed limit of below 40 kmph, chances are it will result in a rush to the hospital with minor burns, thanks to the Corporation’s patchwork of damaged roads.S Vigginesh was not holding a cup of coffee when he was riding to his workplace in Kottivakkam, but that did not prevent him from losing control of his motorcycle after running over a ‘patchworked’ spot on LB Road in Adyar. “I escaped with only minor scrapes, but I guess that’s because potholes and patches don’t allow you to go fast. It was ridiculous. That patch of tar was not there the previous day, I didn’t see it and lost control,” says Vigginesh.While the patchwork is meant to be a cost effective way of levelling potholes, poor implementation by the Chennai Corporation means that the patch of tar and stone will soon disintegrate to reveal the pit they were meant to conceal in the first place. This is the case with a number of arterial roads including Arcot Road, Nelson Manickam Road, LB Road, RK Mutt Road and TTK Road. “Why does the Corporation lay a road, then give someone permission to dig it up just a few weeks later?” asks Balakumaran, a technical writer, who has only recently relocated to Chennai after living abroad for many years. “It is not that the authorities don’t take up patchwork in other countries. They just do quality work, that’s the difference. Our fellows are either too lazy to do good work, or are flat out incompetent.”Corporation officials, on the other hand, disagree that the quality of their work is suspect. “We have a strong quality control policy. Officials from other departments of the government also inspect our work,” says Mayor M Subramanian. He insists that the Corporation is ever on its feet to correct these patches of road-lessness.But road users disagree; “Corporation officials have failed unquestionably. There is no point making further promises, the Mayor must personally get involved and penalise erring officials. Direct action is the need of this hour,” says cinematographer, Arjun Venkatesh.”The Mayor agrees in principle, “the Corporation is ready to act against any dereliction of duty. There is no question of that,” he says, “and while action may be taken, Chennaiites will continue to witness bumpy rides around the city.”
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