THENI: The much-awaited Periyakulam-Kodaikanal Ghat Road through Adukkam will be completed within three months as the Highways Department has expedited relaying and widening work, said Collector N. Venkatachalam.
Talking to press persons after inspecting the Ghat Road work near here on Thursday, he said the State government had sanctioned Rs.4.65 crore for this project under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP). Under this project, the existing road between Perumal Malai and Periyakulam town would be widened and re-laid.
Construction of retention wall and widening work was over. Asphalt laying work was in progress. The work was expected to be over within three months, he said.
On completion of the project, travel distance to Kodaikanal from Theni would be scaled down to 20 km.
At present, tourists from Theni and Kerala have to drive up to Kodaikanal Ghat Road near Batlagundu to reach Kodaikanal covering a distance of 70 km from Periyakulam. Besides tourists being able to cut travel time considerably, traffic congestion on Batlagundu-Kodaikanal Ghat Road would also ease to a larger extent. The new Ghat road would be the shortest route for tourists in Theni and Kerala to reach Kodaikanal hill, he added.
To improve road connectivity to several villages in the district, the Department has been taking up several rural road projects. It has been constructing a 9.95-metre-wide bridge across the Varaha River near Vannanthurai to connect Kacheri Road and Adhikarikulam link road to provide road connectivity to Azhagarsamypuram at an estimated cost of Rs.1.99 crore. Bridge work was over. Construction of the approach road and retention wall and laying of asphalt road were underway, he pointed out.
The State government had sanctioned Rs.75 crore in 2015-16 for 87 road development works of which 70 works had been completed and the rest of the works were nearing completion.
The district administration had also sent proposals at an estimated cost of Rs.56 crore for this current fiscal, he said and advised highways officials to complete the project within the scheduled time to enable rural people to enjoy the infrastructure facilities.
Highways Department Divisional Engineer D. Shanthi and assistant engineers accompanied him.
