Service lane of Chennai-Bengaluru highway waterlogged after overnight rain

Clogged drains on service lane of Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH-48), which is maintained by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), near Green Circle, a roundabout below the elevated corridor, in Vellore has inundated the stretch, affecting traffic movement on Tuesday. 

Officials of State Highways, which maintains culverts on service lanes of the stretch, said that overnight rains since Monday have inundated many low-lying areas within Vellore Corporation limits, including Shenbakkam and Kansalpet, along the stretch.

“Service lane near Green Circle is a low-lying area. With clogged drains, excess rainwater gets inundated on the carriageway of the service lane. A coordinated effort of multiple State agencies, including TWAD, Vellore Corporation, Tangedco and State Highways, is required to prevent waterlogging on the stretch permanently,” said a State Highways official.

Highways officials said that the service lane comes under the control of NHAI, whereas the drain and culverts were maintained by State Highways. Widening of the existing culvert, which is built across the service lane, remains challenging as Highways officials said that utility cables and drinking water pipelines are laid under the culvert. Any damage to water pipelines and underground power cables will affect basic services to residents in the town.

Motorists said that water-logging on the service lane, especially near the decades-old culvert, has not been resolved permanently. The stretch is a key route for all vehicles including ambulances, government buses and school vans from Ranipet, Old Town in Vellore, Ambur, Arcot and Tirupattur to reach Katpadi and its surrounding areas.

“Motorists and pedestrians had to wade through knee-deep stagnant water on the stretch on Tuesday. With the northeast monsoon set to begin in a few days, the stretch will become completely inaccessible for road users due to flooding,” said S. Nithya, a motorist.

Along with the Corporation staff, NHAI officials roped high-power pumpsets to discharge the stagnated rainwater on the service lane, which had knee-deep water. Stagnated water was pumped out into a civic body-maintained farm well along the service lane.

Corporation officials said that NHAI will soon start construction of new drains on a portion of the service lane. The new drain, which will be one metre wide and 1.5 metres in depth, will be connected to the existing culvert to get discharged into the river. It will significantly reduce water logging on the stretch, civic officials said.