Even as work is underway on the construction of new road over bridge at Periyar Nagar on Thiruvanaikovil Trunk Road, a section of residents of Srirangam have urged the Highways Department to realign the service lane by acquiring a piece of land where a private place of worship is located.
On Tuesday, the residents organised under the Srirangam Makkal Nala Sangam, staged a demonstration in Srirangam demanding the authorities to ensure that there was no partiality in land acquisition for the project. Social activist, Traffic Ramasamy, also participated in the demonstration.
The association has been contending that a piece of land, where a private place of worship is situated, has been left out of the land acquisition plan for the bridge. While land belonging to other places of worship along the road has been acquired, this piece of land held by a private Hindu organisation, has been left out deliberately, the association alleged.
However, Highways Department had maintained that the piece of land in question was not required for the ROB structure as such. It was located adjacent to the service lane. The land was not considered for acquisition as already a Corporation road was running alongside the place of worship and this road would be developed as a service lane. The move was intended to keep the land acquisition cost minimal. Besides, laying another road parallel to the existing one would be redundant, official sources said.
But the Makkal Nala Sangam contends that the authorities have deliberately left out the site where the place of worship is located and even if it is patta land it has to be acquired to ensure a straight road, especially when other temple lands have been acquired for the project. In the absence of a straight service lane, accidents could occur, said S.N.Mohan Ram, president of the association, who presided over the agitation.
Work on the construction of the subway is currently under progress. Once the subway is opened, all vehicles, except heavy vehicles, would be allowed to use it. Construction of the subway has been taken up first so as to ease the traffic congestion caused by closure of the Periyar Nagar road over bridge and the consequent traffic diversions in force.
The old narrow bridge has since been demolished where a new road over bridge would be built. The new four-lane ROB project was sanctioned at an estimate of Rs. 47 crore.
