Promise to expand Vayalur road far-fetched, says city residents

Trichy: Sky is the limit for political parties when it comes to making pre-poll promises. An assurance in the DMK manifesto on expansion of the narrow and busy Vayalur Road is one such example.
The project is far-fetched, considering the extent of urbanisation and encroachment on either side of the busy road.
The 5-km stretch from Puthur Four Road junction to Somarasampettai has seen tremendous urbanisation over the past two decades.This is considered to be the second busiest road after the Trichy-Thanjavur national highway, which was expanded to four-way lane only a decade ago. The expansion took place after a long legal battle with residents who opposed the move.
At one time, the 30-foot-wide Vayalur Road had paddy fields on both sides and just one concrete structure, St Bishop College. Over a period, the paddy fields became concrete residential blocks and got congested by the year. Shanmuga Nagar, Uyyakondan Thirumalai, Srinivasa Nagar, Ammaya Pillai Nagar, Muthaliar Chathram, Vayalur and Somarasampettai are some of the congested areas on the stretch.
Rejecting the possibility of expanding the road, a resident from Renga Nagar P Ramalingam said, "Several multi-storey apartments have come up recently close to the road making the expansion plan near impossible."
While M Karunanidhi promised to widen the road, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa too had proposed making the road a four-way lane. It is indeed ironic that both the regimes themselves had granted approvals for construction of buildings on either side of the road, said Ramalingam.
"The cost of land on either side was below Rs 500 per sq.ft. in 2006-7. It doubled in a year and kept going up since then. The road cannot be widened more than five feet on either side as it has several multi-storey residential apartments," added Ramalingam. "Such promises are indeed a novel way of luring voters as commuters know the difficulties and hazards of motoring on this stretch every day," said Vijayarani, an entrepreneur from Ammaya Pillai Nagar.
"At least six accidents are reported on this stretch every day, of which some are fatal," said R Santosh, a grocery shop owner in Srinivasa Nagar.
"There should have been proper planning by the administrators taking into account the pace of development of the region," says a senior official from the city corporation.
"The interests of the masses are sacrificed for the the greed of certain sections of officials and politicians. Later the same people fall for the promises of politicians and the issue will continue to be unaddressed," added the official.