Minister’s remarks on service lanes disappoints residents

Highways Minister E .V. Velu’s recent statement that the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is expected to depute a team to take up study on whether to build service lanes or an elevated corridor along the city stretch of Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway has come as a disappointment to residents.

Highways Minister E .V. Velu’s recent statement that the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is expected to depute a team to take up study on whether to build service lanes or an elevated corridor along the city stretch of Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway has come as a disappointment to residents.

They have been expecting a positive development on the vexed issue after meeting the Chief Minister a couple of months ago.

The Minister, while speaking to reporters here last week, observed that there was no consensus on the issue as one section of people was opposed to land acquisition and another was against the construction of an elevated corridor. “We are trying to resolve the issue and have written to the Centre. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said they will depute a team to study the issue. Only after this and holding talks with the people, we can find a solution,” he said.

A representative of the Federation for Retrieval of Tiruchi-Palpannai-Thuvakudi Service Roads, which has been lobbying for building service lanes along the 14.5-km city stretch of the highway between Thuvakudi and Palpannai for over a decade now, said they had no information on any team being deputed to take up a study and felt that it would only lead to further delays.

The federation has been pressing for expediting land acquisition for building the service lanes.

The property owners and traders, who face displacement due to the acquisition, however, have organised themselves as Tiruchi-Thanjai NH67 Salai Virivakka Panikalal Bathikapaduvor Kootammaippu (Federation of Persons Affected by Widening of Tiruchi-Thanjavur Highway) and support the construction of an elevated corridor so as to protect the livelihood of a large number of people who will be affected by the project.

Disputing the contentions of Mr. Velu, S. Sakthivel, chief organiser, Federation for Retrieval of Tiruchi-Palpannai-Thuvakudi Service Roads, said the service road should have been built as per the original proposal of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) when the highway was widened several years ago. Government orders had been issued to facilitate the building of service lanes. Also, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, in October 2019, directed NHAI to take expeditious steps to build service lanes.