The pedestrian pathway at the Gengu Reddy Subway, on July 14, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDDERICK
There is no dubiety about Gengu Reddy Subway’s age. If someone is still in doubt, the balustrade should settle the matter for them. Far removed from the current generation of subways, it however blends into the evolving landscape around it.
Just as its neighbours (TM Nair Bridge and Gandhi-Irwin Bridge) do, it serves as a key corridor of access between Poonamallee High Road and Egmore, for both motorists and pedestrians.
Gengu Reddy subway as well as the afore-mentioned bridges are under Greater Chennai Corporation’s watch.
Heading to the pedestrian walkway on the southern section of Gengu Reddy Subway, the descent from Egmore is clean. The same cannot be said about the one from the other side (Poonamallee High Road).
Rainwater flowing in from a hole in the wall keeps this slope damp, literally making it a slippery slope. Even rain of moderate intensity is likely to leave its marks behind. On the southern side, the plateau or the enclosed section betrays much more of this issue. The pavement is coated with soggy mud, green from moss formation. Water is part of the mixture. Hugely slippery, the pedestrian has to hop on to an elevated surface and wend their way further down the subway.
The wall displays marks of sustained water seepage. What looks like a space for utilities, one that has a drain underneath is squalid. The flight of stairs on each side does not make a pretty picture either. One is largely taken over by a pumping machine, seemingly placed on perennial alert.
The northern section is plagued by some of these ills, but to a remarkably lesser degree.
The southern section of the subway shines from some external glory, the presence of the SDAT facility along its tail end, towards Poonamalle High Road.
All factors considered, the northern section looks more presentable.
On this section, the pavement is also gently scuffed by tyres of cycles. In all likelihood, the other section is also used, probably less often, due to the moss-ridden slippery patches. Besides, on the southern section (the Egmore side of it), iron rods are impaled at the entrance to the pavement to keep the wrong two-wheelers, the motorcycles out of it.
In the enclosed section of the subway, on both sides, one gets the impression of being doused in stingy lighting. The tubes are arranged in a manner that puts in mind the rise and fall of sea waves. On both sides, one or two “waves” are missing, and those missing links need to be filled to make the subway safer at night.
On the northern side, one noticed the tubes giving two colours, green and pink, alternating between them, transporting the pedestrian to any of the environments to which strobe lights are integral.
Walkway on one side of Gandhi Irwin Bridge in a shambles
Gandhi Irwin Bridge
Gandhi Irwin Bridge functions as a distributor and a funnel, simultaneously. It takes traffic from Poonamallee High Road and distributes it into various roads in Egmore, including Langs Garden Road, Pantheon Road and Arunachalam Road. The “distribution of traffic” also happens indirectly. It goes into a raft of roads a little distance away from the bridge — to give a couple of examples, Rukmani Lakshmipathy Salai and Adithanar Road. On the other side, it is a funnel, into which traffic from all these roads, connected directly or indirectly, is squeezed in and, well, funnelled towards Ponamallee High Road.
The pedestrian walkways on this Greater Chennai Corporation bridge is well-hoofed. However, the pedestrian pathway on its southern side, along which the Government College of Fine Arts is located, is in a shambles, rendering sections of it unusable.
Where this subway meets Poonamallee High Road, there is infrastructure work under the earth, one that is still visible, being visible and running its course. This factor cannot sufficiently paper over the poor state of the pavement on the southern section.
When a walk was undertaken as recently as July 11, a humongous piece of unearthed concrete block lay on the carriageway. The pavement alongside was filled with debris. An uprooted tree on the pavement was part of what went into the unsavoury picture. Further up, the pavement was broken, squalid or both.