Driving down key link roads in Perambur should soon be less chaotic as the Greater Chennai Corporation has taken up a survey of two stretches with the objective of widening them.
The two-km Lakshmi Amman Koil Street and three-km Melpatti Ponnappan Street are the two stretches that are in line for widening. For a week now, engineers and surveyors have been seen measuring the width, length and elevated portions of these stretches to find out to what extent these stretches need to be widened so that they become four-lane stretches. At present, they are two-lane stretches.
“These stretches have many small narrow bends due to encroachments. The survey will find out all the places plagued by the problem of encroachment,” said a Corporation official. The L-shaped Lakshmi Amman Koil Street and Melpatti Ponnappan Street connects Perambur, Sembium, Jamaliya, Pulianthope, Villivakkam, ICF, Ayanavaram and Kilpauk with Vysarpadi, MKB Nagar, Moolakadai, Madhavaram and Manali via Murasoli Maran flyover. “Due to haphazard constructions, the stretches have shrunk in girth and even an MTC bus finds it difficult to pass through some of its sections,” said K. Perumal, a resident of Perambur.
Widening these two stretches will not be an easy task. Apart from removing temporary encroachments like illegal parking and hawkers, building violations on these stretches, especially on the Lakshmi Amman Koil Street, is blatant.
This is mainly due to the importance of the street, which connects the neighbourhood with key government establishments like the taluk office, Corporation office, police station and transport facilities.
Demolishing these structures will raise strong opposition from local traders. The survey is expected to be completed in a month. Thereafter, an estimate will be prepared and after approval from the government, work will start, Corporation officials said.
