Re-lay Thamaraikarai – Devarmalai road in Bargur hills at the earliest, demand motorists

Incessant rain has caused extensive damage to Thamaraikarai – Devarmalai road in Bargur hills and motorists have urged authorities concerned to carry out repair works or re-lay the road at the earliest.

Of the 10-km stretch, six km of road passes through forest areas and comes under the Forest Department. “Usually it takes 20 minutes to reach Devarmalai from Thamaraikarai. But, now it takes over 35 minutes”, said a teacher. Protruding gravels and pothole-ridden spots pose a threat to commuters who mostly travel on two-wheelers, the teacher added.

People in Eratti, Kadaieratti, Onthanai, Minthangi, Devarmalai, Elachipalayam, Ekkattampalayam, Vellimalai, Bejalatti, Kalvarai, Anaipodu and Madam use the road to reach Thamaraikarai and proceed towards Bargur or Anthiyur. “Since, we have only two bus services every day, we mostly commute on two-wheelers, private transport vehicles to reach our destination”, said P. Veerabadran of Devarmalai. He added that their vehicles are getting damaged frequently due to the poor road condition and wanted the road to be re-laid on war-footing.

Villagers also worried over the delay in completion of the high-level bridges across streams at Eratti and Devarmalai and claimed that no works were carried out in the last three to six months. “It is the only road for us to reach the hospital at Bargur or Anthiyur. How can pregnant women and other patients travel during emergencies”, questioned a woman at Eratti. A few people said that pregnant women were forced to stay at their parents’ or relative’s house during pregnancies as commuting is difficult on the road. “It rains almost six months a year here and the condition of the road turns from bad to worse”, said the woman.

Anthiyur MLA A.G. Venkatachalam told  The Hindu that a proposal has been sent to the government for re-laying the full stretch of road. “We have sought permission from the forest department for laying the road that passes through the forest area and a coordination meeting comprising Collector, MLA, forest department officials and union officials is planned for next week”, the MLA .