Residents of many areas including Navalur in OMR, Gummidipoondi, Manali and Avadi are worried that trenches dug up to lay natural gas pipelines are yet to be closed or have not been covered properly. The trenches cause safety issues and take up road space.

Navalur resident Atish Kumar said that the work has been underway for over a year now and there seems to be no sight of the end of it. “We are already struggling with metro rail work and don’t have enough space on the road. The gas line is being laid on the service lanes where people turn to if the main carriageway is choked. Some time back my vehicle got stuck in one of the trenches and luckily a few passersby helped lift it out. I am afraid what will be the condition when the monsoon arrives. It is already raining,” he said.

Activist and Manali resident M. Mahalingam said that laying of main lines in Manali had been completed two years ago. However, the lines to homes were provided only subsequently, thus delaying the re-laying of roads. The Greater Chennai Corporation has been taking up repairs and some roads like Chinna Mathur Salai, Madhavaram Assisi Nagar Road and Mathur MMDA Road are yet to be restored. When it rains, and it has been raining in the evenings and nights, the roads become very slushy and when the mud dries, it is dusty, he said.  

Paruthipattu resident and advocate, V.B. Srinivasan said that gas line work on Avadi – Poonamallee Road was causing traffic jams on a regular basis. “This is not a very broad road and with a lane being cordoned off, there is not enough space for vehicles. Even three days ago we had a major jam near Paruthipattu in the morning when a couple of vehicles got stuck in the improperly restored trench. The project has been going on for over two months now.”

Gummidipoondi resident Suresh Babu said that the pipeline work was happening in the industrial estate in his area and though the G.O. issued to the contractors specifies that they have to refill the trench with M Sand or regular sand, that does not seem to be happening. Vehicles get stuck in the mud on a regular basis, he pointed out.