The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Road project connecting Chengam, Salem yet to materialise

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Thursday, May 01, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Road project connecting Chengam, Salem yet to materialise

Staff Reporter

“Detailed proposal has been prepared at the cost of Rs.7.5 crore”

CHENGAM: The State government’s proposal to lay a State Highways road connecting Chengam with Salem via Neepathurai, Ammapettai and Arur continues to be a distant dream. Residents of Chengam want the government to immediately take up the road works through Neepathurai, Ammapettai and Arur, as it is the shortest route to Salem from Chengam and other areas in Tiruvannamalai district.

Officials of the State Highways Department said that the government had already prepared a detailed proposal at an estimated cost of Rs.7.5 crore for the road works. Once the proposal is implemented, the distance to Salem from Chengam and other parts of Tiruvannamalai district would be reduced by almost 70 km. Bus passengers and motorists would be able to save up one-and-a-half to two hours on travel.

The residents and representatives of political parties have urged the State government to immediately implement the proposal.

At present, the only route that was available to the bus passengers and other motorists from Tiruvannamalai and Chengam to Salem was via Uttangarai and Arur.

The passengers from Tiruvannamalai had to compulsorily go through Chengam, Uttangarai and Arur to Salem. This posed a lot of inconvenience, particularly to the aged and the sick. Even the roads were in bad shape, the residents alleged.

The State Highways was now actively involved in developing a four-lane road from Arani to Polur in Tiruvannamalai district. The road works along this stretch were almost completed. But, the work on the four-lane road from Polur to Chengam and then to Uttangarai was getting delayed. People travelling from Polur to Chengam and then to Uttangarai faced lot of problems.

Cadres of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) staged a protest recently wanting the State Highways to expedite the road works from Polur to Chengam. Though there was some progress initially, it slowed down later, sources said.

This posed a lot of problems to the bus passengers and motorists going to Pudupalayam. The poor road condition forced the bus journey to extend to an hour - to cover a distance of 20 km from Chengam to Pudupalayam.

Some of the passengers who frequently travelled to Salem said that they faced a lot of hardships. Many of them were rice merchants. Rice was being taken from Tiruvannamalai, Chengam and Arani for sales at Salem and Coimbatore. To reach Coimbatore and Tirupur, the passengers had to travel via Salem. As agriculture-related activities had failed in Tiruvannamalai district owing to monsoon failure, many people had migrated to Tirupur. The flow of passengers from Tiruvannamalai, Chengam and other parts of the district to Salem, Coimbatore and Tirupur was increasing by the day, the sources said.

Talking about the road works via Neepathurai, Ammapettai and Arur to Salem, officials of the State Highways Department said that the proposal also included the construction of a bridge across the Thenpannaiyar near Neepathurai in Tiruvannamalai district. Further down, Neepathurai was coming under Krishnagiri district.

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