NHAI officials said the concrete carriageway will help excess rainwater to discharge without affecting traffic movement.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has opened the service lane of Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway (NH-48) near Christian Medical College (CMC) at Puttuthakku village for public use on Wednesday, after relaying the carriageway with cement concrete to prevent inundation during rains.
NHAI officials said that the bitumen carriageway of the service lane, especially towards Bengaluru, was washed away after excess rainwater from abandoned quarries in Puttuthakku village flooded the stretch during monsoon in December 2025. “During last year’s monsoon, traffic on the stretch was stopped after the top bitumen layer got washed away. Huge potholes on the carriageway prevented motorists from using it since then,” said a NHAI official.
Subsequently, NHAI finished patchwork on the damaged service lane a few months ago to allow motorists to use the stretch. NHAI also decided to lay a concrete carriageway on the service lane to prevent similar incidents in the future. “The re-opening of the service lane with concrete carriageway is a welcome measure to ensure safety of motorists, especially during monsoon. Better street lights and reflectors should be installed on the service lane,” said R. Gowri Sankar, a motorist.
NHAI officials said that the service lane measures 300 metres long and 20 ft wide – enough for buses to use the stretch. Work to re-lay the stretch began after Assembly polls in April, and traffic on the route was diverted to the newly opened elevated corridor on the highway.
Divided into small portions, the service lane was milled before it was filled with bluemetal for a depth of two feet to ensure road level. Concrete mixture was laid on the carriageway to a depth of one foot. After more than one month of curing, the re-laid stretch was inspected for any cracks.
NHAI officials said the concrete carriageway will help excess rainwater from abandoned quarries to discharge to nearby canal and lakes before draining into Palar river without affecting traffic movement. Also, the carriageway will not get washed away due to a large volume of rainwater.
Motorists said that earlier, the pot-holed service lane along the national highway was used by vehicles including government town buses, autorickshaws, cars and two-wheelers. Farmers also use the stretch to transport farm produce in tractors to government paddy procurement centres in nearby towns like Arcot, Walajah and Vellore.
Ambulance drivers found it challenging to drive on the bumpy service lane with patients on board. On an average, 8-10 ambulances use the stretch every day to reach nearest government hospitals and CMC.
Published – August 13, 2026 12:52 am IST
