The Arappor Iyakkam has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to repair 164 roads and relay 166 roads in Tirunelveli district to ensure the safety of the public.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Jayaram Venkatesan, coordinator of Arappor Iyakkam, after releasing the citizens’ audit of the roads, said 65 volunteers surveyed the corporation, municipality, town panchayat and village roads across Tirunelveli district between June 23 and August 7 last to identify the roads that need to be either relaid again or repaired.
Of the 330 roads surveyed by the volunteers, 166 roads need to be relaid as these stretches are unmotorable and unsafe for travelling while 164 other roads should be repaired at the earliest considering the safety of the public using these roads.
In Tirunelveli Corporation, 31 roads should be re-laid and 70 others should be repaired by doing ‘patch work’ wherever it is required. The roads in pathetic condition in Rajajipuram, Thenpaththu Road, Shenbhagam Pillai Street, all in Thatchanallur zone, VOC Street and Rajiv Gandhi Street in Tirunelveli Zone, Maharaja Municipal Colony first street, Annai Indra Nagar west street, Moogambikai Nagar main road, Rahmath Nagar 33rd street, Kamarajar Nagar main road and Darling Nagar 5th street, all in Palayamkottai Zone, should be relaid immediately, he said.
The survey also found that the one-year-old Rahmath Nagar – Vaettaikkaarankulam – Pettai Road is damaged completely due to poor quality of laying.
Of the 17 town panchayats in Tirunelveli district, 53 roads in 12 town panchayats were surveyed and 28 of them have to be relaid without delay while 25 others should be repaired sufficiently.
Of these, the Pattamadai primary health centre road and Valliyoor government hospital roads are in the worst shape, the survey pointed-out.
“The Naranammalpuram – Tirunelveli main road is full of potholes to make the travel dangerous and treacherous,” Mr. Jayaram Venkatesan said.
Of the 170 village roads taken up for the survey, 106 should be relaid while 64 stretches should be repaired.
The prime reason behind the serious damage of roads in Vadakkankulam, Kaavalkinaru, Ranganeri, Nakkaneri, Irukkanthurai, Ooralvaaimozhi, Pazhavoor and Yakobupuram is due to the overloaded trucks carrying stones and minerals to Kanniyakumari and Kerala.
“While 30% of the roads in Tirunelveli Corporation has to be relaid, the number rises sharply to 62% in rural areas due to poor quality of laying,” said Mr. Jayaram Venkatesan.
The Arappor Iyakkam has recommended that the government, while repairing or re-laying the roads, should ensure transparency in these works by displaying boards at these spots with all relevant information like length and width of the road, cost of the relaying / repairing work, the authority to be approached for filing complaints, if any etc.
“Above all, due milling should be done before relaying the road, which is not done in any part of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
The findings of the survey had been shared with Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and TWAD Board, Tirunelveli District Collector, Corporation Commissioner, Secretary, Department of Highways, Director of Town Panchayats and the 5 MLAs of Tirunelveli district.
The complete survey report can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/tirunelveli-road-audit-report-2024.