Work under way to strengthen SWDs and lay concrete roads

 Old drains are being rebuilt, and walls erected along them. Footpaths will be constructed on the widened drains.

Old storm-water drains (SWDs) are being rebuilt as part of the concrete road laying work undertaken by the State Highways Department around Arunachaleswara temple in Tiruvannamalai town.

The work is being taken up as, a few days ago, the front portion of a house on Thiruvoodal Street was damaged in the process of a trench being dug to re-lay an SWD. “Houses near the temple, which were built years ago, are mostly occupied by senior citizens. Care should be taken to build the drains without damaging the houses along these stretches,” S. Vinod, a resident, said. New SWDs would help prevent inundation of the town during monsoon, he added.

State Highways officials said the ₹15-crore involved the construction of storm-water drains in areas such as Theradi Veethi and Thiruvoodal Street, which lack SWDs. Work on around 230 metres of the drains, each 3-feet-wide and 4-feet-deep, is under way. R. Krishnasamy, superintending engineer, State Highways (Tiruvannamalai), inspected the work.

“A concrete wall is being built along the drains with a wall concrete mixer to prevent any damage to the structure or the houses along the stretches where the work is under way. The entire road-laying work around the temple will be completed in six months,” S. Anbarasu, Assistant Executive Engineer, State Highways, told The Hindu.

Funded under the Chief Minister Road Development Programme (CMRDP) 2024-25, the work also includes widening of the damaged bitumen stretches to 12 metres from the existing width of 7 metres.

The work is being carried out in coordination with the Corporation, police and Tangedco.

To ensure the safety of pilgrims who take part in the temple car procession during Karthigai Deepam festival, all overhead cables on the 1.7-km stretch are being converted to underground ones. Around 120 electric poles have been removed. New pipelines are also being laid on both sides of the stretch to avoid road cutting works for household water connections.

Tiled footpaths will also be built on the widened drain.