Removal of encroachments begins at Tiruvannamalai for road widening

Encroachments, mostly houses and petty shops, were demolished on the Tiruvannamalai - Kallakurichi Main Road in the temple town of Tiruvannamalai by the Highways Department on Friday as part of the widening of the stretch into a four-lane route.

Encroachments, mostly houses and petty shops, were demolished on the Tiruvannamalai - Kallakurichi Main Road in the temple town of Tiruvannamalai by the Highways Department on Friday as part of the widening of the stretch into a four-lane route.

Officials of the Highways Department, which maintains the stretch, said that most of the encroachments along the route have been in existence for more than three decades. Notices to vacate the space on both sides of the stretch have been issued. “Once widened, the stretch will ease traffic flow, especially into the temple town, which is witnessing a steady rise in the flow of pilgrims from neighbouring States,” K. Raghuraman, Assistant Director (AD), State Highways (Tiruvannamalai), told The Hindu.

Formed under the Comprehensive Rural Improvement Development Project (CRMDP) 2023-24, the ₹140 crore (Tiruvannamalai ₹100 crore; Kallakuruchi ₹40 crore) four-lane work covers a distance of 63.3 km. Of this, 41 km of the stretch comes under Kallakurichi whereas 22.3 km falls within Tiruvannamalai limits.

In Tiruvannamalai, the widening of the stretch is being done on the 22.3 km stretch, including 12 km that comes under Tiruvannamalai town limits. Of this, encroachments have been identified at a distance of four km from the town. More than 800 structures have been earmarked for demolition for the week-long exercise.

On an average, 40,000 vehicles use the road every day. The widened stretch will be a 15-metre-wide carriageway outside the town limits whereas the carriageway within the town for a distance of 12 km, will be 19.8 metres wide due to the flow of more vehicles in the town.

The four-lane stretch will also have a 1.2 metre-wide median, 1.2 metre-wide storm-water drain on both sides of the stretch, LED street lights, tiled footpath and rainwater harvesting system.

The 20 culverts on the route will also be revamped into a box-type model to discharge more rainwater during monsoon. At present, excess rainwater from Thamaraikulam, an irrigation tank in the town, stagnates on the stretch, affecting the free flow of traffic and erodes the top bitumen layer of the stretch. Most of the narrow culverts on the stretch were built in the early 1980s. The stretch will also have at least 20 bus stops with more frequency of bus services. The entire four-lane work will be completed in six months.