HC orders notice as bad roads ‘sink’ heritage bldgs, temples

The Madras High Court has ordered notice on a plea which has questioned the process of relaying roads over the existing roads resulting in many heritage buildings in the city and ancient temples across the State sinking to lower levels.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy before whom the plea moved by Dr SRS Saravanan of Neelangarai ordered notice to the State Government and the National Highways returnable by three weeks.

The petitioner had submitted that over the years, the roads are being laid above the existing layer of the roads which led to a situation that the buildings and superstructures which were elevated from the road margins have gone down their levels. But worst is, in the process, many heritage buildings in Chennai like Egmore museum, Chennai

Central, War Memorial, University of Madras and Rippon Building and pertinently many of the ancient temples like the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple and the Periya Kovil in Thanjavur have all gone down from its original elevation, posing a severe threat to its stability and the possibility of the oldest structures going down looming large.

The petitioner further pointed out that in the normal course of laying roads, be it the highways or arterial roads, a layer of bitumen mixed with blue metal is laid and pressed with a road roller without scrapping and milling the existing road level. Due to this indiscriminate practice, the roads get heightened and the buildings go down much below the road level.

The officials involved in sanctioning of the road laying works and tenders do not input scientific analysis, instead, the roads are being laid over and over again, the plea said.