Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Will it be a smooth ride on Marudamalai Road?

K.V. Prasad

State Highways Department waiting for monsoon to end

TREACHEROUS TERRAIN: Potholes on Marudamalai Road has turned it into one of the most dangerous stretches connecting the suburbs. — Photo: M. Periasamy

COIMBATORE: The residents of scores of layouts between the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Marudamalai have a common question: will there ever be a smooth ride on the Marudamalai Road?

A 12-km stretch that links the suburbs of Vadavalli and Veerakeralam with the city is now a constant reminder to the people that they should believe in destiny. Potholes, trenches and encroachments have reduced the road to a shambles.

No guarantee

It is a fight on the roads for motorable space. Brakes have to be in the best of their condition and people should not be sentimental about damage to their vehicles. Anything can happen on this road that leads to the famous temple of Lord Muruga. There is no guarantee that the riders will be safe.

In the daily hunt for asphalt, motorists violate lane rules and run into each other or swerve into crowds waiting at bus stops to avoid potholes. The pedestrian, the cyclist, the two-wheeler rider and the car driver see each other as potential competitors for space on a road that earns notoriety to areas that are actually sought after residential colonies.

The only vehicles that face no problem are the buses and lorries that threaten to mow down the smaller vehicles in the assertion of their might on the roads. The only safe stretch is the one between the junction and the curve towards Seeranaickenpalayam.

The ordeal begins at Papanaickenpudur and the rest of the road till Kalveerampalayam tests vehicle users' patience, skill and faith in divine powers.

The State Highways Department has drawn up a proposal for Rs.1.5 crores to re-lay the road from the Lawley Road Junction to Kalveerampalayam (almost 7 km). But repairs are needed up to Marudamalai. It has been found that traffic is heavy up to Vadavalli bus stand, but re-laying is to be done up to Kalveerampalayam considering the rise in traffic volume up to this place.

It is learnt that even the work order has been issued. The department is ready to take up the work but is waiting for the threat of rain to go.

While re-laying will offer relief to the people, only widening is seen as a permanent solution. After the removal of some of the encroachments in 2001, the rest, including some places of worship, impede smooth flow of traffic. The road is very narrow near the Vadavalli Bus Stand.

The TNAU, Bharathiar University and two schools are located along the road. More layouts are being formed as people are headed till the foothills of Marudamalai in the ongoing housing boom.

Given the rise in population in areas along the road, its width is inadequate to handle the attendant increase in traffic.

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