Dharmapuri mishap: Pile-up on ghat road in Thoppur sparks debate

They urged the district administration to come up with a permanent solution to tackle the issue.   
A major road accident in Thoppur led to the death of four people and left seven others injured | Express
A major road accident in Thoppur led to the death of four people and left seven others injured | Express

DHARMAPURI:  The pile-up on ghat road in Thoppur on Saturday that claimed four lives has triggered a heated debate, with residents alleging poor planning and construction of the National Highway stretch as the reason for the recurring accidents. They urged the district administration to come up with a permanent solution to tackle the issue.   

Meanwhile, the district administration is mulling over an alternative route to Salem as they claim the expansion of Thoppur ghat is impossible owing to the terrain. Sources said that the district administration had sent a proposal to NHAI to construct a new road connecting Salem and Dharmapuri. 

A lorry driver from the district, Karthikeyan, many a life are lost on the stretch. “It is impossible to drive on the stretch, especially on the gradient. There are two hairpin bends back to back. Blaming drivers alone won’t solve the issue. An effective solution would be to construct a straight road, connecting Salem and Dharmapuri,” he said.

The truck driver said that most of the vehicles carry load in excess and the transport officials do not check the vehicles before entering the ghat. “I have been driving in this route for the last five years. I have never been checked even when I carry excess load,” he said.

Superintendent of Police, C Praveshkumar said that the gradient of the road in Thoppur should be modified. “Since there are descending curves, even vehicles with less load find it difficult to make turns. Immediately after the first hairpin bend, the drivers have to turn to the opposite side immediately, and because of the speed generated during the descent most vehicles either topple or collide against other vehicles. We have identified these bends and have placed both audio and visual warnings.

We have also placed barricades in nearly six places. But this is only a short-term solution. This is an engineering glitch and the NHAI should come up with a solution,” he said. Meanwhile, Manager of Thoppur toll plaza, Naresh, said that constructing straight not is not the solution. “The drivers should be cautious. The authorities have to install Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and should impose heavy fine son the violators,” he said.   

Dharmapuri MP DNV S Senthilkumar, said that the authorities had already took up the issue with Union Minister of Road transport and Highways Nithin Gadkari. “Earlier, `140 crore project was proposed to straighten the road. But, that is not feasible and hence we have proposed an alternative six lane road project to Salem. If this project is sanctioned, trucks will not have to enter the ghat road and accidents could be averted,” the MP said.

Collector SP Karthikaa said that the terrain makes it impossible to consider any road expansion. “A permanent solution will be an alternative road and we have sent a proposal,”she said.Karthikaa also added that higher officials Road Transport department, State Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and police departments would conduct a meeting at the district headquarters on Monday to discuss short-term solutions to prevent accidents. 

Truck driver arrested
Thoppur police on Sunday arrested the driver whose truck had rammed into 12 cars and four other vehicles on Saturday. Sources said that the driver, identified as Kudpudin (30), a native of Jharkhand, was arrested near the Thoppur forest range. “We have booked a case against him and are investigating into cause of the accident,” police said.

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