Widening of Manapparai-Thuvarankurichi Road nearing completion

Work on widening a nearly 14-km Manapparai-Thuravarankurichi Road, which connects the Tiruchi-Dindigul and Tiruchi-Madurai national highways, has reached the final stages and is expected to be completed soon

Work on widening a nearly 14-km Manapparai-Thuravarankurichi Road, which connects the Tiruchi-Dindigul and Tiruchi-Madurai national highways, has reached the final stages and is expected to be completed soon.

The road widening work has been taken up at an estimate of ₹134 crore between Ethirmedu and Thuvarankurichi town. The two-lane stretch, which had a width of just about seven metres, has now been converted into a four-lane road with a width of 16 metres and has a median.

The widening work has been taken up on three stretches, of which work on two have been completed. The remaining work would be completed soon, once the acquisition of a small piece of land was completed, sources in the Highways Department told The Hindu.

According to sources, the work between Ethirmedu and Maniyankurichi village panchayats and Karaipatti village panchayat and Thuvarankurichi Town have been competed. The work was in progress between Maniyankurichi and Karaipatti village panchayats.

Besides widening and strengthening the road, the project included widening of culverts, reconstruction of box culverts, construction of protective wall, drains, and the median. The project was taken up to cater to the growing vehicular traffic on the road.

“The widening of the highway is expected to largely help heavy vehicles plying between the Tiruchi-Madurai and Tiruchi-Dindigul Highways. With the establishment of a SIPCOT industrial park at Manapparai, the development of the road would be of much importance,” an official said.