With hundreds of dangerous potholes, the 54-km-long Tirunelveli-Tenkasi highway, which serves as a major connectivity between the southern districts and neighbouring Kerala has become the most life-threatening stretch of the district.
Though the officials say that this road could only be repaired and there was no plan for re-laying it as this stretch is going to be converted into a four-lane, no step has been initiated so far to make travel along this road safe. The stretch, starting from the western end of the Thirurvalluvar two-tier bridge in Tirunelveli Junction to Tenkasi, is desperately awaiting a facelift for the past several years and hence travel to Tenkasi or places beyond it like Courtallam, Shencottah or Punalur in Kerala remain a nightmare for road-users.
Even though the three-month-long annual season at Courtallam attracts several lakh tourists from across Tamil Nadu, no step was taken to make the road safer, particularly during night.
After the recent rains, the 75-minute-long journey from Tirunelveli to Tenkasi has become one of the most dangerous ventures, thanks to the hundreds of potholes, dotting the road.
Following repeated representations from the public, work on filling-up dangerous pits in this busy thoroughfare between Tirunelveli Town to Old Pettai with the little funds available with the Department of Highways was commenced a couple of days ago and the work is likely to be completed by this week-end. However, this small quantity of funds is not enough to repair the entire stretch up to Tenkasi.
“As you are aware, the four-laning of this road is going to be taken up by Tamil Nadu Road Sector Projects and hence only repairing is possible now. But, the funds available with us now is enough only to fill-up the potholes between Tirunelveli Town and Old Pettai. We’re expecting more funds in the next fiscal (after April 1) so that the stretch will be made motorable and safe before the Courtallam season starts,” a senior official from Department of Highways said.
