Slow pace of pipeline work delays road construction

The more-than-five-km-long Manickam Street - Sangaralinganar Road - Tagore Road that connects Mettupalayam Road in Kavundampalayam with Sathyamangalam Road, near Ramakrishnapuram, is filled with potholes.

The surface is uneven with loose earth making up for the surface. It has been so for over a year now, since the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board began executing the pipeline laying work to augment water supply to Kavundampalayam, Vadavalli and Veerakeralam at ₹108 crore.

Officials in the board say that work on the roads is for 5.04 km worth about ₹12 crore to convey 6.50 million litres a day from the Pilloor Main Storage Reservoir in Ramakrishnapuram to a sump in Jai Nagar, near Nallampalayam, and from there to another sump near the Coimbatore Corporation’s office in Kavundampalayam.

Of the 5.04 km pipeline work to be carried out, the board has completed work for 3.75 km and is awaiting nod from the State Highways Department. Due to procedural issues, it has taken time for the board to get the Highways Department’s nod.

The work has begun and the board estimates the work to be completed in December, this year.

It is the slow pace of execution of the work by the board that has prevented the Coimbatore Corporation from taking up the work to repair the Manickam Street - Sangaralinganar Road - Tagore Road, say Corporation engineers.

Now, the corporation has begun road construction on the eastern end of the stretch, near Athipalayam Pirivu, at ₹2.40 crore. It has dumped wet mix on the road and has left the mix to settle as the civic body expects the earth to compact due to rains and movement of heavy vehicles.

After a month or so, the corporation will resume the road building work. Meanwhile, it will wait for the TWAD Board to complete the pipeline laying work in other stretches of the roads.

The corporation has also sent a proposal for ₹3.85 crore to the State Government for building other parts of the road.

An area resident and former Councillor M. Krishnaswamy says that both the government agencies should expedite work, for the people who use the roads have been suffering for long. For residents from the western part of the city, it is an important link to reach the three colleges near Saravanampatti and a host of schools.

The roads also see heavy movement of small and big goods carriers as the roads lead to a number of industries, he adds to underscore the importance of the roads and the need for expediting the work.