After the controversy over mentioning EVR Periyar Salai as Grand Western Trunk (GWT) Road on signboards, the Highways Department has clarified that it is the name of the road as per their records.
The GWT, whose old number is NH4 and also called as Poonamallee High Road, was formed and named so in the 1850s by the British, explained an official source.
The two green-coloured boards on E.V.R. Periyar Salai, mentioning it as Grand Western Trunk Road, were placed some time ago as part of a city-wide signboard installation programme by the department, officials said. Citing a 2019 G.O. in which names of roads under the control of the department are mentioned, the official pointed out that Anna Salai was called GST (Grand Southern Trunk) Road and Walltax Road, which was renamed as V. O. C. Salai, as Grand Northern Trunk (GNT) Road. The GST Road, NH45, is also known as Mount Road in common parlance in the city limits, he added. “The GST, GNT and GWT are very old roads and are thus known officially through out the length that they run. There are also records that the Mughals had formed them,” he explained.
In official parlance, all the roads under the control of the department also have a specific number.
“There are numbers for even stretches that have been handed back to the State Highways by National Highways Authority of India. According to a 2011 G.O. we mention these numbers in all our communications as the road data, which includes accident data and maintenance data, are connected through web-based systems,” he explained.
A former official of the Highways Department said that there was nothing wrong in putting up a board with the old name.
