Motorists taking the Velachery-Tambaram Road say the space beneath Medavakkam flyover has become an eyesore, with garbage dumped in one portion, encroachers and scaffoldings belonging to Chennai Metro Rail taking a major portion of the space.
Prasad Karanth, Madipakkam resident, who quite often travels that way, said that the space under the structure is dark and dank. “You can see people living there even. When you compare this with the flyover at the Dr Kamakshi Hospital junction at Pallikaranai, this is poorly maintained. At Pallikaranai, two offices have been constructed. The space here should be ideally put to use for better purposes. A walkers’ pathway could be made like the one beneath the MRTS track on the Alandur Road or even a park where people can take a break in the afternoons,” he suggested.
Kumararaja, a resident of Velachery, said that the space is being used as a garbage yard, which is unfortunate. “You can see old beds, rags and soil dumped there. If this were a flyover in the heart of the city, it would be better maintained. Many flyovers in the city have the space beneath them encroached upon. Shops would invariably come up with the influence of local politicians. A section of the space can be made a vending area and instead of vendors taking up road space along the flyover,” he suggested.
The city’s longest flyover, when inaugurated a few years ago and running to a length of 2.3 km, beautification works are yet to be taken up by the Highways Department, which maintains the facility. An official source said that the space will be cleaned on a regular basis on the work to create a service lane is completed. “CMRL workers are staying there and they will move out once that work is over,” he said.
Published – June 11, 2025 01:04 am IST
