Broken road halts vehicles atbusy Kilkattalai intersection

CHENNAI: A busy intersection in Kilkattalai, where roads connecting to St Thomas Mount, Tambaram, Velachery and Pallavaram meet, has been driving motorists up the wall after the monsoon showers.
A rain-battered 500-metre stretch of Arulmurugan Nagar Main Road in Kilkattalai, on which the ward councillor's office is located, holds up traffic and causes jams during peak hours.An open sewage drain makes matters worse at the junction.
Prakash K, an IT pro who lives nearby, said Metrowater dug up the road to lay pipes before the monsoon and has not repaired it since then. "Vehicles zipping in from roads nearby have to slow down to a crawl on the stretch, causing traffic jams," he said.
The intersection has neither a signal nor policemen to control traffic. Only a blinking yellow light warns motorists of the peril ahead. "Traffic policemen are not stationed here. During peak hours one or two policemen are at the spot but they do not remain for long," said Murugan, an employee at a shop near the junction.
The junction is under the jurisdiction of the Pallavaram municipality. Opposite Arulmurugan Nagar Main Road is a well-maintained tar road. Locals say the roads are under different wards and officials have neglected Arulmurugan Nagar Main Road.
A large number of people including IT employees and schoolchildren go past the junction every day, said Kilkattalai resident Venkatesh T N.
"School buses and engineering college buses pass the junction from the four major roads and they are put to severe inconvenience," he said.
A large sewage drain at the intersection has been a source of agony for eateries and shops in the vicinity. "The drain has been open for the past eight years. Metrowater closed one half of it but the other part remains open," Jaffer, an employee at a bakery near the intersection said.