The Hindu Business Line : Highways, roads in TN to be upgraded

With the vehicle population burgeoning in Tamil Nadu in the wake of resurgence in the economy, the Tamil Nadu Government has decided to upgrade nearly 6,500 km of roads as either State highways or major district roads (MDRs).

Coimbatore also stands to benefit from the order as it covers some of the high-density roads within the city.

In the order issued by the Highways Department early this month, Mr K. Allaudin, Secretary, Highways Department, stated that as Tamil Nadu was experiencing phenomenal growth in different sectors, the infrastructure in the State has to be upgraded to cope with the growth in these sectors.

Upgradation

The Government has decided that based on the traffic intensity and importance of the roads, certain roads might be upgraded as State highways and MDRs.

The Chief Engineer (General), Highways, had proposed the upgradation of 99 MDRs to State highways for a total length of about 1,902 km and 65 other district roads (ODRs) running to a length of about 762 km to State highways.

The proposal also included upgradation of 273 ODRs to MDRs to a length of about 3,812 km. He said his proposal has been accepted by the Government.

Importance

A significant aspect of the road upgradation proposal is that it includes a number of roads linking places of tourist and religious importance such as the Thoothukudi-Tiruchendur-Kanyakumari road, Coimbatore-Maruthamalai road and the Kodaikanal ghat road.

Among the MDRs and ODRs proposed to be upgraded as State highways include the Chennai-Pulicat road, Thiruthani-Podatturpet-Pallipet road, Tambaram-Mudichur road, Kodambakkam-Sriperumbudur road, Chennai-Ennore road, Cheyyur-Vandavasi-Polur road, Kanchipuram-Vandavasi road, Pallikonda-Palamaneri road,Villupuram-Tiruvannamalai road, Mailam-Pondy road, Kumbakonam-Karaikal road, Nagore-Vettar road, Palani-Dharapuram road (via Alangiyam), Vathalagundu-Peraiyur-T.Kallupatti road, Kodai ghat road, Attur-Perambalur road, Palladam-Kochi Frontier road, Tirupur-Somanur road, Erode-Thingalur road, Dharapuram-Tirupur road, Thoothukudi-Tiruchendur-

Kanyakumari road, Cheranmahadevi-Panagudi road, Colachel-Tiruvattar road, Sattur-Sivakasi-Srivilliputtur road and Sivakasi-Kazhugumalai road.

The Government Order comes as a great relief to the residents of parts of Coimbatore, commuting from Coimbatore to Podanur through Ramanathapuram. The Government has also ordered the upgradation of North Coimbatore-Ramanathapuram-Chettipalayam road via Lakshmi Mills to a length of 18.910 km as a State highway.

The upgradation of Coimbatore-Anaikatti road also would help ensure smoother vehicular traffic.