As a huge hole developed in the bridge across the Tamirabharani on Palayamkottai-Thoothukudi highway is yet to be closed, road users crossing the danger zone, particularly during the night, are risking their lives
A toll is being collected for using the national highway.
When the 47.25 Km-long Thoothukudi – Palayamkottai 4-lane national highway was laid in 2013 at the cost of ₹349.50 crore to connect the Kanniyakumari – Kashmir National Highway, a 4-lane bridge was also built across the Tamirabharani near Vallanaadu, which is being used everyday by a few thousand vehicles including the trucks carrying 40-feet-long imported logs.
As a huge hole developed in the bridge’s Thoothukudi – Palayamkottai stretch in 2017 due to poor quality of this concrete strucutre, it took more than 6 months for the National Highways Authority of India (NHIA) to plug the hole for a few crores of rupees was reportedly spent ‘for making the bridge safe’.
Shockingly, another hole developed in the same stretch of the bridge within 12 months after the first hole was closed. This time, it took nearly 2 years for the officials to close the hole with the help of the ‘experts’ drawn from various parts of the country and the vehicles were diverted along the adjacent stretch i.e. Tirunelveli – Thoothukudi stretch. Armed with modern gadgets, the experts examined the entire bridge and its quality of construction.
The third hole that developed on the Tirunelveli – Thoothukudi stretch of the bridge a month ago is still there to pose serious threat to the motorists, especially in the night. After the locals informed, Thoothukudi District Collector K. Senthil Raj inspected the spot and instructed the NHAI officials to initiate immediate steps to plug the hole.
“Even as the narrow decades-old bridge is still strong even after witnessing and withstanding several floods, the new bridge reportedly constructed with modern technology and at the cost of several crores of rupees is unable to withstand the vehicular traffic owing to poor quality of construction. The NHAI, which is not properly maintaining the Palayamkottai – Thoothukudi 4-lane national highway even though hefty toll is being collected, has miserably failed to maintain this important bridge in this region. We, the villagers of Vallanaadu have planned to file a case in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court seeking waiver of toll until this highly unsafe bridge is made safe and the entire Thoothukudi – Palayamkottai highway is re-laid,” said Shanmugavel, an entrepreneur from Vallanaadu who has to use this bridge twice a day.
He also said the service road branching out from the eastern side of this bridge to the cremation ground on the bank of the Tamirabharani should be laid.
