While the widening of the Tiruchi - Pudukottai highway has come as a boon to motorists, it has created an accident prone zone at Narthamalai due to poor visibility of oncoming vehicles and presence of three bus shelters in the area.
The alignment of the highway at Narthamalai area should be altered totally, say residents. It lacks safety for road users. The branching off of another road leading to Annavasal adds to the problem, say residents.
The absence of service road in the area was another problem. “The widening of the road has not taken into consideration the need to provide service road though Narthamalai has been an important bus stop for town and long-distance bus services,” says K. Mohanraj, founder, District Accident Prevention and Rescue Operation Association, who had submitted a memorandum to the Union Minister of State for Surface Transport and Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan, in this regard about seven months ago.
When buses stop here, dearth of carriage space for vehicles that happen to cross the point poses a threat, he said explaining the reason for the accidents in that area. The district administration constituted a committee comprising officials from transport and police departments for exploring the possibility of widening the stretch at Narthamalai area. Satellite images would be utilised for the re-alignment, officials said.
