Despite warnings by the district administration that construction materials should not be dumped on service road and heavy vehicles should not be parked along the Omalur Main Road at Kuranguchavadi in the city, the practice continues unchecked.
The road connects Five Road with Kuranguchavadi where it joins the Salem – Bangalore National Highway.
Also, a service road is available along the road for over 100 metres. But the service road is used for unauthorised parking of commercial vehicles and sand-laden lorries round-the-clock.
This disrupts the free flow of traffic and vehicle users are forced to take the main road instead of the service road. One side of the road is encroached by these vehicles while the other side is where construction materials, including sand and gravel, are dumped for sale.
During the recent road safety meeting, the issue was raised by a social worker and Collector K. Maharabushanam immediately asked the National Highways Authority of India to initiate action and seize the construction materials dumped on the service road. But the officials have turned a blind eye to the order, as no action has been taken so far against unauthorised use of road space.
The traffic police also failed to initiate action against the unauthorised parking of vehicles on the service road as the road users are left to suffer. Road users said that the dumping and encroachment remains unchecked for many years now and blamed the authorities for inaction. “Safety of road users is at stake,” they added.
