DHARMAPURI: The residents of Pappireddipatti are distressed by the long halts in Manajavadi Ghat Road owing to the road construction work and have urged NHAI to finish that work as soon as possible.
The Manjavadi Ghat road is a key road connecting the Dharmapuri and Salem districts, but due to its narrowness, it always faces heavy traffic. Hence, to improve that, the Union government decided to upgrade it into a four-lane road. As part of the first phase of the work, Rs 68.67 crore was also allocated to construct a road between A Pallipatti and Salem via Manjavadi Ghat, and as many as 53 minor bridges are being expanded under this project. Leading to the increase in traffic congestion over the past few months.
S Elavarasan, a driver from Ammapettai, told TNIE, “It has been close to a year since the construction works began, and the pace of the construction has been very slow. Right now, over 70 per cent of the roads are just mud, and during the sudden rain on Tuesday, the roads turned murky, and moving on this road became impossible. The traffic situation is worsening and it must be regulated. On Tuesday, it took me nearly three hours to reach my house in Harur from Salem, while it should have taken only one and a half hours at the most. For drivers like us, it is extremely vexing.”
R Vediappan, a resident of Harur, said, “With the roads in such bad state, there are rumors that officials are also planning to set up a toll gate near Pudupatti. Why should we pay for mud roads?”
NHAI officials said, “It would take over a year to complete the roads; we have been working with maximum efficiency. Regarding the tollgate, no announcements have been made yet.”