More than two months after ₹22-crore new vehicular underpass was opened, pot-holed service lane of Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 48) near Christian Medical College (CMC) at Puttuthakku, a border village on Vellore - Ranipet districts has not been re-laid with bitumen, risking hundreds of motorists including ambulances and government buses on the route every day.
Motorists said that the service lane, especially towards Chennai, has not been re-laid for many months as traffic was diverted on the stretch to facilitate smooth flow of work of the new underpass.
Despite the new facility being opened in February, the service lane, which measures 20 ft wide and 300 metres long with wide storm water drains, has not been re-laid by NHAI. “The service lanes have been levelled with blue metal, which pose risk for motorists, especially during night as two-wheelers skid on it. Pedestrians have to walk on the blue metal carriageway,” said G. Ramesh, a motorist.
At present, the pot-holed service lane along the national highway is used by vehicles including government town buses, autorickshaws, cars, and two-wheelers. Farmers also use the stretch to transport farm produce in tractors to government paddy procurement centres in nearby towns like Arcot, Walajah, and Vellore.
