Corporation urged to fund underpass project at G.Corner

Even as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Railways have taken up a consultative exercise on the popular demand for the construction of an underpass at G.Corner on the Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road, a section of residents and service organisations of Golden Rock have called upon the Tiruchi Corporation to come forward to fund the project and include it in the City Development Plan being drawn up by the civic body.

There have been persistent demands from residents of Golden Rock area and employees of the Central Railway Workshop for the construction of an underpass ever since the Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road was four-laned by the NHAI. Residents, in the absence of direct access to Golden Rock from the TVS Tollgate site, have been forced to take a detour to go via Senthaneerpuram. The two-way service lane from TVS Tollgate and Golden Rock has turned congested and accident prone, residents contend.

Though the Railways had come forward to provide the required land at the site free of cost for the construction of an underpass, it had declined to fund the project as demanded by the NHAI. Recently, NHAI and Railways officials conducted a joint inspection of the site and also held a high-level meeting at Chennai to discuss the subject.

While the outcome of the meeting is yet to be publicised, it is reliably learnt that the meeting discussed implementing certain measures for traffic regulation on the service lane between Golden Rock and TVS Tollgate, including closure of the entry into the service lane just before the TVS Tollgate fly-over.

Meanwhile, in a representation to the Mayor A.Jaya, H.Ghouse Baig, Secretary, Golden Rock branch of the Consumer Protection Council, Tamil Nadu, has called upon the Corporation to include a proposal for the construction of an underpass at the G.Corner junction in the interest of residents of ward 32.

In the absence of an underpass, residents of 15 colonies in Golden Rock and beyond and employees of the Railway Workshop are facing a harrowing time in negotiating the service lane. Though the police and NHAI were trying measures to regulate the traffic flow, it would not prove to be a permanent solution. Given the increase in the traffic volume day by day, the problem would only turn acute in the coming years.

A permanent remedy would be the construction of the underpass. Employees of the Railway Workshop were remitting professional tax every year and nearly Rs.5 crore has been paid to the Corporation since 2006, he said.

Some residents also point out that the Golden Rock Colony is fully maintained by the Railways and the Corporation was incurring no expenditure there.

Considering the circumstances, the Corporation should come forward to construct the underpass as a goodwill gesture and include it in the City Development Plan as projects under the plan are likely to be funded under the phase-II of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Mr.Baig said.