Potholed service lane near CMC Ranipet campus on Chennai - Bengaluru Highway a risk to motorists

The pot-holed narrow service lane on Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 48), which is maintained by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), near new campus of Christian Medical College (CMC) at Puttuthakku village near Arcot town in Ranipet is a risk to the motorists.

The bitumen topped stretch was completely worn out after heavy downpour over the past few weeks. Since then, motorists have been risking their lives in using the stretch. The service lane measures around 20-ft-wide and 300 metres long with storm water drain on its extreme end. “All vehicles including trailer lorries and ambulances have to negotiate on the narrow service lane to join the carriageway of the highway again. The service lane especially towards Bengaluru is pot-holed,” said R. Bashir, a motorist. 

At present, NHAI has diverted all vehicles to use service lanes especially towards Bengaluru to facilitate ongoing vehicular underpass work on the carriageway of the highway. The ₹18-crore-subway is being built at one of the ‘black spots’ identified by Ranipet district police. A ‘black spot’ refers to a specific location that have high frequency of road accidents.

As per norms, regular maintenance including patchwork should be done once in six months on the stretch. However, motorists said that the condition of the damaged service lane has not improved for many months since bitumen was completely washed away during the 2024 northeast monsoon. “Steps will be taken to re-lay the damaged service lane towards Bengaluru soon,” said a NHAI official.