Encroachments, lack of enforcement cause traffic snarls between Murugankurichi and Samathanapuram  

Unprecedented traffic snarls on Tiruchendur Highway due to encroachments by traders and lack of police enforcement.

The Tiruchendur Highway between Murugankurichi and Samathanapuram in Palayamkottai, one of the busiest roads here, is witnessing unprecedented traffic snarls and consequent accidents since last October due to the encroachments made by traders and lack of enforcement of traffic regulation by the police.

When the Corporation shifted the traders of Palayamkottai Gandhi Market to the temporary shops created at the police quarters site with tin sheets as the dingy age-old market is being rebuilt under the ‘Smart City Mission’, the traders, after occupying these temporary shops, have illegally occupied the spaces close to the busy Tiruchendur Road to keep their products and the signboards. The hotels and the teashops have their teashops and snack preparing units on this occupied space.

Since these structures have come up illegally on the roadside, the buyers coming to this temporary market and shops nearby have to park their bikes and the cars on the already cramped road. Consequently, traffic jam has become a routine affair at this spot to cause accidents.

“After the devotees taking padayatra to Tiruchendur temple for ‘Thai Poosam’ are also walking along this road, the traffic jam has become more serious,” say the public.

The poor enforcement of traffic regulation by the police also contributes to the traffic jam between Murugankurichi and Samathanapuram. Though westward movement of vehicles from the police outpost at Gandhi Market has been banned, no one respects this rule and everyone violates it round the clock even as the police have been deployed there.

“The police, deployed at the outpost and near the erstwhile Annapoorna Hotel, never stop the violators and book them. Emboldened by this inaction, the one-way system is violated at will by everyone to cause severe headache for the public. Even though this violation often leads to accidents and consequent confrontation between the motorists, the police take no action,” says the owner of a pharmacy near Gandhi Market.

The westbound vehicles from the Gandhi Market police outpost dare to reach even the Murugankurichi signal and further move towards the CSI Cathedral also cause accidents and altercations between motorists in this stretch.