The Arappor Iyakkam has requested the Tamil Nadu government to repair 164 roads and construct 166 new roads in Tirunelveli district to ensure public safety.
Jayaram Venkatesan, coordinator of Arappor Iyakkam, while talking to reporters after the release of the citizen survey of roads on Tuesday, said that 65 volunteers surveyed the municipal, ward, town panchayat and village roads across Tirunelveli district between June 23 and August 7 to identify the roads that needed to be either re-laid or repaired.
Of the 330 roads examined by the volunteers, 166 roads need to be reconstructed because these sections are impassable and unsafe for traffic, while 164 other roads should be repaired as soon as possible in view of the safety of the public using these roads.
In Tirunelveli Corporation, 31 roads need to be re-laid and 70 others need to be repaired by doing ‘patching’ work wherever necessary. 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 Road, Kamarajar Nagar Main Road and Darling Nagar 5th Roads, all in the Palayamkottai zone, should be rebuilt immediately, he said.
The investigation also revealed that the Rahmath Nagar – Vaettaikkaarankulam – Pettai road, which is only one year old, is completely damaged due to poor quality of laying.
Of the 17 town panchayats in Tirunelveli district, 53 roads in 12 town panchayats have been surveyed and 28 of them need to be re-laid immediately while 25 others should be adequately repaired.
Of these, the roads to Pattamadai Primary Health Centre and Valliyoor Government Hospital are in the worst condition, the survey found.
“The Naranammalpuram-Tirunelveli main road is full of potholes, making the journey dangerous and treacherous,” said Jayaram Venkatesan.
Of the 170 village roads that were the subject of the investigation, 106 need to be newly constructed and 64 sections need to be repaired.
The main reason for the severe road damage in Vadakkankulam, Kaavalkinaru, Ranganeri, Nakkaneri, Irukkanthurai, Ooralvaaimozhi, Pazhavoor and Yakobupuram is the overloaded trucks carrying stones and minerals to Kanniyakumari and Kerala.
“While 30% of roads need to be resurfaced in Tirunelveli Corporation, this figure rises sharply to 62% in rural areas due to poor quality of road construction,” said Jayaram Venkatesan.
The Arappor Iyakkam has recommended that the government ensure transparency in road repair or reconstruction work by putting up boards at the relevant places with all relevant information, such as the length and width of the road, the cost of reconstruction or repair work, the authority to which complaints can be addressed, etc.
“Most importantly, necessary milling work would have to be done before re-laying the road, which is not done in any part of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
The results of the survey were communicated to the Principal Secretary of the Municipal Corporation and the TWAD Board, the District Collector of Tirunelveli, the Municipal Commissioner, the Secretary of the Roads Department, the Director of the Municipal Assembly and the five MPs of Tirunelveli District.
The full survey report can be downloaded at https://bit.ly/tirunelveli-road-audit-report-2024.
