Even as the ‘Courtallam season’ is fast approaching with the onset of southwest monsoon in neighbouring Kerala, the Tirunelveli – Tenkasi highway, which would be used by thousands of vehicles every day during this season, is still in the worst shape as no step has been taken to fill-up the hundreds of dangerous potholes dotting the road.
Even after the active northeast monsoon that turned this 54-km-long stretch from bad to the worst, no concrete measure has been taken up by the Department of Highways to make it motorable.
The officials said there was no possibility of re-laying the road as it was going to be converted into a four-lane by Tamil Nadu Road Sector Projects after acquiring adjacent lands.
“We’ve received administrative sanction for repairing this damaged road and the work will start very soon to make it ready ahead of ‘Courtallam season,” a senior official of the Department of Highways then said.
Though the officials then promised that the potholes would be filled up to make the stretch safe, no such step has been initiated so far to cause so more agony to thousands of road users every day. While seriously denting four-wheelers, the dangerous pits and long pits trigger several accidents involving bikes, particularly at night.
The number of vehicles using this road will increase manifold during the ‘Courtallam season’ as the tourist destination would attract several lakh visitors between June and September. If this dangerous stretch was left unattended, it would certainly trigger serious accidents to make the visitors’ vacation bitter.
Officials, who promised a facelift to this road a few months ago, are now tight-lipped and refuse to discuss anything about making the Tirunelveli – Tenkasi road safer.
“Diversion of funds and paucity of funds have collectively hampered this work. We can start the work only after getting fresh funds,” said a senior official attached to the Department of Highways.
