Sandhya Vedullapalli, a civic activist, finds it doubly taxing: she has to navigate not only through the dug-up stretches of Anna Nagar’s 9th Main Street but also through civic red tape. “First relaid in January, the stretch is being dug up again, this time for water and sewer connections. The residents had asked the Greater Chennai Corporation [GCC] to allow the underground work to be done beforehand; yet, the road was relaid. Now, it has been cut open again,” she says. Furthermore, an unresolved issue of a 20-ft electrical cable for an old building requires the road to be cut open once again. But the file remains stuck between officials and the councillor, she adds.

Many residents are in a similar position. Road conditions remain deplorable, even after rules were laid down for regulating road cuts, weekly meetings were introduced for coordination among civic agencies and government departments, and the appointment of quality controllers at a cost of ₹7.5 crore to monitor road-laying.

Online application for approval

The GCC has made it possible to apply for permission online for road cuts. Utility agencies such as the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), and the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) are required to hand over roads to the GCC once their work is completed. Until then, they are expected to restore the roads temporarily with concrete or wet mix, according to the GCC’s norms.

Howe