Chennai national highways bottom of NHAI ranking – Times of India

CHENNAI: Not a single highway stretch near Chennai managed to secure a spot in the top-150 list, according to the National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) recent ranking report. NHAI’s National Rating, which was released in March, ranked 219 key NH stretches across the country based on highway efficiency (45 marks), road safety (35 marks) and user services (20 marks).
Consultants, who were hired to rank these stretches, named Ahmedabad-Vadodara as the best highway in the country. In Tamil Nadu, the 148-km long road between Krishnagiri and Walajapet on NH-48 secured the sixth position with a score of 87.15 out of 100.
But the 21-km stretch between Poonamalle and Sriperumbudur near Chennai on the same NH-48 has secured 183rd rank by scoring only 55.63 out of 100.
NHAI consultants rated the stretch as poor in terms of safety. This was because of the frequent road accidents reported here over the years. Hundreds of motorists die here every year.
Madras high court last year had taken suo motu cognizance of the bad road condition and penalised NHAI by ordering them to collect only 50% of the user fee at Sriperumbudur toll plaza.
Subsequently, portions of repair works were taken up. But potholes have once again started to emerge near Poonamallee, thereby making the commute dangerous.
S Yuvaraj from Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Association, who filed a police complaint against negligence, said ideally it should have been an eight-way lane by now. But, it is still a four-way lane.
“Vehicle movement on this stretch has increased manifold as many people shifted from the city to areas like Maangadu, Poonamallee where house rent is comparatively less. So, we simply need more space and regular maintenance. But authorities are not keen on it,” he said.
Chennai Bypass, another stretch in the city’s suburbs, too has been ranked low. By scoring 58 marks, the road has secured the 173rd position. The poor show was attributed to the inefficiency of the Vanagaram toll plaza and excess traffic.
A senior NHAI official said that the accident rate here has been brought down now because of dedicated efforts like covering drains, installation of warning signs and temporary relief measures at accident hotspots.
Local activists, however, attribute the drop in accident to reduced vehicular movement during Covid lockdown. Around 180 accidents were reported here every year till 2019.
The 38-km stretch connecting Tindivanam with Puducherry was at the bottom of the NHAI rating. It was ranked 207 with only 48 marks.