The Murugan Nagar Road, off the Marudhamalai Road in Kalveerampalayam, is full of stones. For about 150 m from south to north, the stones have come off the surface after the Coimbatore Corporation started re-laying the road around two months ago in the area and the neighbouring RKG Nagar and Marutham Nagar.
But no sooner the work begun, than the corporation stopped it without citing a reason, complains Councillor (Ward 16) K. Kumutham. Since then the blue metal that was used for the road work, has started coming off the surface and the road now resembles more a rumble strip.
The result of the incomplete work has been that passing vehicles leave a trail of dust that settles in front of the houses and on the shelves of shops and makes life difficult for people there, says a shopkeeper.
K. Chinnadurai of Vignesh Puncture Shop says that he is more worried about the stones than the dust because, on a couple of occasions, he had a narrow escape from stones that flew into the shop after coming under speeding lorry tyres.
He has since stopped sitting in the front of his shop.
A couple of motorists have had a fall because of the stones which challenge even skilled riders, says V. Ramasamy, another shopkeeper of the area.
Ms. Kumutham says that a Marutham Nagar resident, Banu, fell of her two-wheeler and suffered injuries on her leg. There have been a couple of more such accidents as well.
Sometime ago she reached out to the Coimbatore Corporation officials asking them to restart the work but was yet to get a proper response. The corporation has taken up the work at Rs. 40 lakh.
Sources say that the contractor, who is executing the work on behalf of the civic body, is awaiting payment for projects he has completed and will resume work only thereafter.
