For the friends of brothers Vijayavaradhan and Vijayasarathi, the untimely demise of their collegemates is something they could not digest. They feel that the accident could have been avoided if the State Highway authorities had listened to their repeated pleas that the unkempt road was turning into a death trap for motorists.
“The road is so muddy and because of the frequent trips of lorries to the nearby factories, the stretch is very dusty. A person riding a vehicle literally cannot see approaching vehicles until a few metre away. Almost every other day motorbike riders skid on this road. It resulted in a tragedy today as a lorry was coming close behind,” said Sai Guruprasad, a classmate of Vijayavaradhan.
The students also argue that if the police had restricted the movement of heavy vehicles at least during the peak hours in the morning and evening when the students would be moving in the area, such a gory accident could have been avoided.
“There are several cement factories in the locality and there is always heavy movement of lorries carrying raw materials to them. A poor road and the frequent movement of the lorries had made this stretch into a death trap for the motorists. Only about a year ago, two sub-inspectors were killed in a similar accident. Yet no action has been taken,” said Rajinikanth, a local resident.
The students added that a couple of years ago, the poor state of the road claimed the life of a SA Engineering College student. “We don’t know how many deaths it will take for the authorities to respond,” said a student of the SA Engineering College.
The local Poonamallee Municipality officials too have been repeatedly demanding the highway authority to relay the stretch, but to no avail.