COIMBATORE : Shop owners and motorists expressed concerned over the slow pace of Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) corridor project works on the Cross Cut Road in Gandhipuram and the Oppanakara Street in Town Hall. As per sources, the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) started building a dedicated NMT corridor to avert the mishaps caused due to increased usage of vehicles and to make the roads more pedestrian-friendly from September last year at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore.
The CCMC finalised four routes for carrying out the NMT Corridor project, including Raja Street and Big Bazaar Street in Town Hall, and the Cross-Cut Road and Nanjappa Road in Gandhipuram.
Although, the works were supposed to be completed in six months time, the project is being delayed. The traders on Cross Cut Road and Raja Street have been irked as the annual Aadi festival sale has been affected due to the ongoing works.
N Balagurunathan, a garments trader from Cross Cut Road told TNIE, “This is one of the busiest seasons of the year for us as many people visit the stores during the sale. But the trade has been affected as there is not proper path to the shops due to the ongoing NMT corridor works.”
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Prathap said, “Currently, we have fully completed the paver block installation works on one side of Cross Cut and shall complete the other side in the next few weeks. Earlier, we awaited the shifting of EB poles. However, we have now started paving the blocks and will remove a couple of blocks while removing the EB poles. The NMT project will be fully completed by the end of this month.”