Chennai: Bureaucratic blame game has deprived the public of peaceful commute between ECR and OMR for several years now. A crucial 100m stretch on Pandian Salai has been reduced to a 5ft bottleneck, leaving vehicles crawling during peak hours. However, the highways department and Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) pass the buck.Motorists rely on two major connectors between ECR and OMR, at Thiruvanmiyur and Akkarai, nearly 10km apart. However, only a few are aware of a third link via Pandian Salai, nestled between Neelankarai and Palavakkam, 5km away. Yet, even those familiar with the route often avoid it, turning back at the first sign of congestion.The reason: the road, which runs over the Buckingham Canal, narrows to barely 5ft at a critical 100m stretch, causing vehicles to queue for hours. Commuters cannot entirely bypass this route either, as there are no other interior roads directly connecting OMR and ECR in this belt.“My office is close to the BSR Mall in Thoraipakkam (OMR). I reside in Kapaleeswarar Nagar (ECR). Taking this route could ideally save me 20 minutes a day. However, once I had to wait at this stretch (Pandian Salai) for 20 minutes just so that four cars could pass. Since then, I go to office through Thiruvanmiyur,” said V Mohit.A TOI visit to the spot revealed that the road was in a battered state. Commuters on two-wheelers and autorickshaws waited several minutes to let cars and other larger vehicles pass. Impatient two-wheeler riders even used the footpaths to drive on. “It is a nuisance. I use this road to take my son to school. Between 7am and 8am, this stretch is non-motorable,” said V Ramesh, a resident of Arignar Anna Street. Traffic police officials were unavailable for comment. Former Neelankarai traffic inspector Venkatraj admitted the stretch was chaotic and said when he was on duty, personnel were posted on the stretch only during peak times. Residents say only road widening would help reduce congestion.GCC zonal officer was unavailable for comment. An official from zonal office said the road was part of the highways’ 204-crore plan to link ECR-OMR via Neelankarai. “It would automatically be widened then,” he said.However, highways dept chief engineer Jawahar Muthuraj denied the claim. “While the link road project will be undertaken at Neelankarai, it will not cover Pandian Salai. The stretch is too narrow to be covered under the project.”
