Coimbatore people can heave a sigh of relief as the congested Sathy Road will be widened soon. Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has identified land, worth `38.65 crore, required for the widening and has submitted the final report to the District Revenue Officer (DRO). The development comes after nearly a decade since the proposal was sent to the State government.
CCMC deputy commissioner Dr M Sharmila told TNIE that the road will be widened under the 80-feet scheme road project, adding that the town planning officials completed the survey to extend the 1.5 km-stretch of the road in the north zone by 3 metres on both sides from the Sathy Road bus stop to near a hospital in Ganapathy.
“A proposal was sent to the government in 2013 to widen the Sathy road on both sides. But due to various reasons and LA issues, the project didn’t commence. As the 60 landowners accepted to provide lands for the project, the lands were earmarked and the DPR has been submitted for DRO’s approval. Once the DRO gives the nod, works will kick-start,” she added.
The 65-km long Sathy Road, which is a part of the NH 948, is the most congested road in Coimbatore City. It connects the city with Ganapathy, Saravanampatti, Annur and all the way to Sathyamangalam in Erode district.
As this is the only route used by the majority of the motorists who commute to the IT tech parks in Saravanampatti and mofussil buses that take passengers to Annur and Sathyamangalam, the road is always jam-packed. Balaji, a resident of Saravanampatti said, “The inception of a shopping mall on the road added fuel to the fire. To make matters worse, people visiting the mall irregularly park their vehicles outside the premises which further narrows the road.”
“With the number of vehicles increasing daily, the government must either widen the road or build a flyover as a permanent solution to the long-pending problem,” he added. Meanwhile, calls to widen the Sathy Road has grown louder among the motorists.
K Kathirmathiyon, Secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause and member of the Coimbatore Road Safety Panel told TNIE, “Although the road belongs to the NHAI, the civic body needs to carry out LA and hand over to the former to widen the road. But the corporation delayed LA and submitting the LPS and other documents by over a year. This further delayed the preparation of DPR by NH. The DRO must take immediate steps and approve soon so the NH officials can widen the road and plan on constructing a flyover there.”
Based on a resolution passed by the Corporation on October 16, 2020, a GO (Government Order No 32) was issued and `38.65 crores from the Coimbatore LPA (Local Planning Authority) fund was sanctioned for land acquisition costs from Textool to the Old Sathy Road.