Velachery, Adambakkam residents request road access across waterway near Puzhuthivakkam MRTS

Residents’ associations from Velachery West and Adambakkam have submitted a representation to Southern Railway seeking a passage across Veerangal Odai from the north-eastern entrance of the Puzhuthivakkam Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) station.

Two new railway stations in Puzhuthivakkam and Adambakkam, located between the Velachery and St. Thomas Mount stations, are expected to be open for public soon.

In a letter, dated March 5, to the Divisional Railway Manager of the Chennai Division, Southern Railway, the Velachery West-AGS Colony Residents’ Welfare Association and Saraswathy Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association requested an alteration to the compound wall at the railway station to build the access road.

The proposed passage would link Saraswathy Nagar 7th Street and adjoining areas with the service road on the MRTS Inner Ring Road near the station, they said in the letter.

The compound wall at the north-eastern entrance of the station had been built when the adjacent private plot did not have a boundary wall. However, in early 2024, the owner of the plot built a compound wall along the western edge of the property, they said.

There now exists a trapezoidal gap of more than 10 feet between the private compound wall and the railway wall, they added.

The residents requested that the railway compound wall be slightly realigned to allow the construction of a pedestrian path and cycle lane across the waterway.

The letter also sought an inspection of the north-eastern entrance of the station to assess the feasibility of creating this facility.

The Engineering Construction Department of Southern Railway should look into the possibilities of building the access way, an official said.

The associations added that the passage would provide a direct route to the parking lot of the Puzhuthivakkam Railway Station on the MRTS Inner Ring Road side.

This would help the residents avoid a detour of about 1 km-1.5 km.