Millers Road in Kilpauk experiences constant traffic bottlenecks despite being one-way, with multiple residential apartment complexes, hospitals, diagnostic centres, pharmacies, and commercial establishments alongside.

Traffic increased since Metro Rail Phase 2 Corridor 3 construction began at one end of the street, narrowing the road. Construction cables block parts of the road. The road curves at a junction branching three directions, creating a bottleneck with no traffic lights to indicate vehicle flow direction, causing chaos.

Pavements are encroached by food stalls, book stalls, mobile service stalls, and are broken with cables and construction debris. Two-wheelers and autorickshaws parked alongside force pedestrians onto the street with vehicular traffic. Autorickshaw drivers report small fares of ₹50-60 are unmanageable due to increased circle routes from one-way traffic.

Only a small section has barricaded pedestrian space; most of the stretch lacks protection despite many office-goers, patients visiting healthcare facilities, customers at wedding halls, jewellery shops, and restaurants. Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses also use the street. No pedestrian crossings exist down most of the street, making crossing hazardous.

Nearly 48% of tunnelling for Chennai Metro Rail’s 118.9-km Phase II project is complete: 33.22 km of its 69.05 km underground network across three corridors. In the past three days, tunnel boring machines completed work on three stretches.

• Corridor 3, Madhavaram–SIPCOT, has 43.04 km of underground stretches, with 22.63 km tunnelled.
• About 62% of corridor 4, Poonamallee–Light House, is complete; corridor 5, Madhavaram–Sholinganallur, is 27% complete.
• Chetpet–Kilpauk Medical College: 685 metres, including beneath five railway tracks, Chetpet Eco Park and KMC Hospital; the machine drilled 6.1 metres below the Phase I tunnel.
• Villivakkam Railway Station–Villivakkam Bus Terminus: 601 metres, beneath five railway tracks.
• Royapettah–Radhakrishnan Salai: 915 metres, beneath structures on Royapettah High Road, including Peters Bridge, the EPFO building and a school.

• The Tamil Nadu government is reportedly preparing to sign an MoU with Southern Railway, initiating Chennai Metro Rail’s takeover of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS).
• On September 30, the Downline Tunnel Boring Machine Kaveri broke through at Kilpauk Medical College Station after a 685-metre drive beneath active railway tracks and other sensitive structures.
• The ‘Vetri Payanam’ free bus scheme for women is expanding. Chennai Metro ridership crossed 1 crore.
• Southern Railway announced 102 festival special trains for Diwali and Dussehra; bookings began on October 1.
• Dengue cases are rising and lake water levels are low.

Chennai’s lakes are at 38% capacity amid a critical water shortage. On September 30, the Metro Phase 2 Downline Tunnel Boring Machine Kaveri broke through at Kilpauk Medical College Station after a 685-metre drive beneath active railway tracks and other sensitive structures. The state government is preparing to sign an MoU with Southern Railway, initiating Chennai Metro Rail’s takeover of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). A road cave-in was reported as the area’s second such incident. The city is intensifying mosquito-borne disease control efforts. Clear skies and a high of 35°C were forecast for October 1, 2026.

Chennai Metro Rail Limited completed the downline tunnel boring by TBM “Kaveri” at Kilpauk Medical College station on Phase II, Corridor 3. Work between Chetpet and Kilpauk Medical College began in February 2024 using two tunnel boring machines, “Thamirabarani” and “Kaveri”, and took 252 days.

The tunnels pass beneath five active Southern Railway tracks near Chetpet, at about 18 metres deep, and beneath Chetpet Eco Park lake and several Kilpauk Medical College buildings, at depths of 21–26 metres. A minimum separation of 6.1 metres was maintained between existing Chennai Metro Phase I tunnels and Phase II tunnels. Work was completed without land subsidence or damage to existing infrastructure.