COIMBATORE: Years on, O’Valley Panchayat officials near Gudalur are yet to take steps to lay the road between Bharathi Nagar and Old Police Station on Arottuparai Road.
The residents said that after repeated appeals citing the damaged condition of the road, the panchayat officials had prepared a proposal to lay a tar road for Rs 30 lakh and uploaded it to the panchayat website a year ago. However, as no steps were taken in the last year, residents suspect that the officials misused the fund amount.
R Ranjith, the coordinator of O’Valley Makkal Iyakkam, said, “The officials took up the tar laying works for a distance of 1,400 metres through Bharathi Nagar under the Janmam Lands scheme in 2017-18. However, it was damaged due to rain, frequent usage, etc. As a result, potholes were developed on the road, making it hard for motorists to travel.
Out of the entire 1,400 metre stretch, nearly 500 metre stretch is completely damaged. As this is the route frequently used by school, college students, and locals, vehicles are moving at snail’s pace leading to traffic congestion.”
C Haridass, Executive Officer, O’Valley Town Panchayat, told TNIE that the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) inspected the spot and submitted a report to Nilgiris Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneru, and then the file was submitted to the Assistant Director (AD) of Panchayat office.
From there, the file will be sent to the directorate of town panchayat and they will release the funds. We hope that the collector will take action soon.”
He added, “Earlier, we prepared a proposal for road restoration for `30 lakh. However, we have revised it to Rs 1.7 crore with a drain for the entire 1,400 metre stretch. We have included drains to prevent waterlogging during monsoon.”