Lack of bridges affects interior road connectivity

Residents of some of the localities along Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway that have been expanding on a rapid pace in recent years after the merger of Ellakudi Panchayat with the City Corporation in 2011 are facing a pressing problem on a day-to-day basis.

Residents from one locality are able to go to another only after touching the accident-prone national highway.

A few large localities, though contiguous, have no interior road connectivity due to presence of canals.

Urbanisation has reflected in localities like Vin Nagar, Balaji Nagar and Prakash Nagar that were once agricultural fields transforming into congested residential areas. But, residents of Kailash Nagar, for instance, cannot go to Balaji Nagar, due to the presence of a canal. Likewise, another canal separates Balaji Nagar and Prakash Nagar. Resident welfare associations in Prakash Nagar are learnt to have submitted a number of petitions to the district administration requesting for a culvert across the Uyyakondan canal.

However, an outcome has been elusive.

According to Sakthivel, Coordinator of Federation of Tiruchi City Residents Welfare Association, absence of road links amongst the three localities was causing enormous discomfort, particularly for school students using bicycles. Proper road links created through construction of culverts or bridges across the canals will obviate the need for the people to go to the main road, and thereby avoid the risk of accidents, Mr. Sakthivel said.

According to official sources, the construction of culvert across the canals requires fulfilment of an elaborate procedure, under the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act. One of the main requirements is an approved layout.

The possibility for the layouts of any of the two localities with a common meeting point of roads of the same or similar breadth is bleak, a City Corporation official said. In any case, the decision on permitting construction of culverts in these localities will have to be taken by the River Conservation Division of the Public Works Department that maintains the irrigation canals, the official explained.

Source