THANJAVUR: The walkers’ stretch laid by the water resources department (WRD) along the banks of the Grand Anaicut Canal (GAC) spanning a total three kilometres in the heart of Thanjavur city has reduced to only a kilometre for use for the past year due to lack of maintenance, say joggers and visitors, seeking its immediate restoration.
During 2012-13, the WRD laid the pathway along both the banks of the GAC flowing through the city from Irwin Bridge to the bridge near the tourist bungalow. The walking strips with paver blocks ran for a distance of one kilometre on each side, creating the pathway for a total distance of two kilometres.
In 2015, the pathways were extended on both banks from Irwin Bridge to the bridge near the Chola edifice of Big Temple, taking the total length of the walkers’ stretch for public use to about 3 km. A lack of maintenance, however, has left the stretch, particularly the pathway on the left side of the bank, in disuse for the past one year, say visitors.
While the pathway laid on the right bank is now inaccessible due to vegetation cover and a partition set up for a birds’ park, a portion of the pathway on the left bank, too, is ridden with vegetation. Only the portion of the pathway laid on the left bank from Irwin Bridge to the tourists’ bungalow remains accessible for use.
J Mohan, a retired government employee who uses the lone accessible stretch for morning walks, said, "If the stretch between Irwin Bridge and Big Temple is cleared of the vegetation with thorns, walkers like me could walk more distance at a stretch."
R Ravichandran, the project director of ‘Azhagiya Thanjai’ movement, remarked that some enterprising officers initiate new projects for the public. "The projects like the walking stretch ought to have been properly maintained by the successors. However, this was not the case with many projects. The pathway is one such," he said, calling for the walkers’ stretch to be restored immediately so that the public fund invested in the first place does not go waste.
When contacted, a WRD official told TNIE that the clearing of the vegetation on the walkers’ stretch will be taken up at the earliest.