Semmenchery's Puducherry Pattai Road Plagued by Potholes and Dangling Cables

Residents and daily commuters along Puducherry Pattai Road in Semmenchery on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) have been contending with severely damaged, dug-up roads and dangerous low-hanging electric cables for the past one and a half years due to stalled civic works.

The stretch, which houses more than 500 residential units including individual houses, apartment complexes, paying guest accommodations, and small-scale industrial units, serves as a crucial alternate route for motorists travelling between Semmenchery and Navalur without entering the main OMR. However, ongoing and incomplete infrastructure projects have left the road almost unusable even for local residents.

Civic troubles began around May last year when the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) excavated the road to construct storm-water drains. After completing only a portion of the project, work was halted. Subsequently, Chennai Metrowater dug up the middle section of the road to install a water supply pipeline before stopping operations midway.

According to local business owner A Raja, who operates a carton dispatch unit on the stretch, both civic agencies suspended their operations with the onset of the monsoon last year. Since then, repair and construction works have progressed only in disjointed patches, leaving the surface riddled with deep potholes.

In addition to the damaged road surface, low-hanging electric wires have posed a severe safety hazard to locals. Last month, a buffalo calf was electrocuted when an overhead wire fell into a roadside puddle. Following complaints, the GCC cleared the wire and filled the surrounding pothole, but residents continue to demand a comprehensive and swift resolution to the lingering civic problems on the road.