Members of the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday staged a protest demanding removal of an encroachment on a pathway, north of Sanganoor Road.
The protesters led by District Secretary V. Ramamoorthy and former Member of Parliament P.R. Natarajan also took out a march from one end of the pathway on Sanganoor Road to the other end in Vedambal Nagar, Ganapathy.
Mr. Natarajan said that the pathway measuring 20 feet in width and three-fourth of a km was under encroachment and the district administration and Coimbatore Corporation were refusing to remove it.
If opened, it would provide easy access from Maniakarampalayam in the north to Sanganoor Road and also Gandhipuram Seventh Street, 100 Feet Road and Cross Cut in the south.
This would reduce the travel time from one end to another from 20 minutes to five minutes and also reduce traffic congestion on Sathyamangalam Road, he said and added that with the road over bridge work across the railway cross on Seventh Street nearing completion, it was imperative that the district administration and civic body remove the encroachment.
The CPM members said that the district administration was seized of the matter and was about to remove the wall blocking the pathway about a couple of years ago. But, the change in leadership had led to a situation where the officials concerned had started the work all over again.
The party leaders said that if the two government agencies did not act within a timeframe, they would be forced to stage a massive protest.
