One of the long-pending demands of the district – the widening of Coimbatore-Pollachi road – is expected to become a reality soon. The National Highways (NH) wing of the State Highways Department has received Rs. 24.58 crore from the Union Government to increase the width of the road to 10 metres from the existing seven metres.
An official of the department told The Hindu on Friday that the widening will be for nearly 48 km from Udumalpet to Coimbatore, excluding places where the road width is already 10 metres. Just 1.58 metres will have to be widened on either side and land is available for this purpose.
The project is likely to be finalised in a couple of months. The department is also studying the feasibility of upgrading the road into a four-lane one.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is hopeful of completing the feasibility study on widening National Highways (NH) 209, which passes through Coimbatore District, in another three months.
An official of the NHAI said the consultant was expected to complete the study in two or three months and a detailed project report would be prepared after that. Based on the reports, the project would have to be finalised and land acquisition process would start only after that.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) State youth wing secretary V. Easwaran has said in a press release that the NHAI officials have said that 10 NH roads would be taken up for improvement works in the State this year. However, there is no announcement on the Dindigul-Coimbatore-Sathyamangalam road.
Consultation meetings were held five years ago to take up widening of this stretch but there is no progress.
With a large number of industries and colleges on the Pollachi- Coimbatore road, movement of vehicles is high and there is a need to widen this road. Widening of this road should be taken up as a priority by the State and Central Governments, he said.
