The Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam has urged the district administration to take steps to expedite construction of a bypass connecting the Tiruchi-Madurai, Tiruchi-Dindigul, and Tiruchi-Karur national highways around the city.
The road was to run from Panchapur on the NH45 via Thayanur to Jeeyapuram on NH 67. The project was taken up as part of the widening of NH 67, being executed on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.
Although the NHAI had taken up the work of laying bypass, it was halted midway. The work was halted after the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, based on a petition filed by local farmers, struck down the NHAI’s plan to lay the road across the Kothamangalam, Kallikudi, and Punganur tanks in 2010.
The farmers had alleged that laying the road across the tanks would affect irrigation and their livelihood.
It was suggested that the NHAI could build the bypass as an elevated structure, without affecting irrigation sources.
The project would bring about a semi ring road for the city and could substantially reduce the traffic congestion within the city.
Although the NHAI is said to have finalised a revised alignment to take the bypass along the bunds of the irrigation tanks, the work has not restarted.
“Farmers, who took up the issue to the court opposing the laying of the road across the tanks, however, say that they were not against the project as such. “We only wanted the water bodies to be protected. We want the road to be laid without affecting the water sources,” said M.P. Chinnadurai, district president, Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, who distributed pamphlets highlighting the demand at the Collector’s office on Monday.
The association has threatened to launch a relay fast to press the demand from August 24.
