A key vehicular subway near the railway station in Arakkonam is being spruced up to prevent inundation during the northeast monsoon.
Built in 1865 by the then Madras Railway, the subway still retains its old charm of brick and mortar structure that keeps it strong. The subway can only allow light vehicles like cars, autorickshaws and two-wheelers.
The subway is a lifeline for residents as it connects northern and southern parts of the town. “After a joint inspection with railway officials and concurrence from them (Southern Railway), the subway is being readied to prevent water logging,” K. Raghuraman, Commissioner, Arakkonam municipality, told The Hindu.
A joint inspection by the civic body and the Southern Railway led by its senior division engineer (DE) C. Thanesh Kumar, the municipal commissioner, Mr. Raghuraman, and sanitary inspector of the civic body M. Sudhakar, was done a few days ago. The team identified black spots in the subway including storm water drains where rainwater gets clogged due to dumping of garbage by residents, traders and petty shopkeepers in the area. Notices were issued to them by the civic body for dumping garbage in the drain.
As part of the work, the narrow storm water drains are being desilted. The inlets to the drains are also cleaned to allow excess rainwater. The 700-metre-long drain on the subway has been connected to an irrigation tank, which is maintained by the Water Resources Department. The entire drain route between the subway and the tank is also be readied by removing bushes and debris on it. The work will be completed in the coming week.
Railway officials said that widening of the existing drain in the subway cannot be done due to safety of railway tracks. However, lighting facilities inside the subway will be provided in the coming weeks by the Southern Railway.
Municipal officials said that non-removal of encroachments around the bund of the irrigation tank remain a key challenge to prevent inundation of the subway as they block easy flow of excess rainwater into the tank. Several requests to WRD have been given by the civic body for demolition of encroachments and desilt the tank but no efforts have been taken so far. Civic officials said that desilting of the tank would help to store more excess rainwater during monsoon and prevent inundation of the town.
