Residents of Karuppudaiyanpatti village under Emakkalapuram panchayat, blocked the Natham to Dindigul road, near here, on Friday, demanding that encroachments on the road leading to their village be removed. Dindigul Collector M. Vijayalakshmi, who was passing through the area to oversee kudimaramathu works in Natham, was caught in the blockade.
Seeing the Collector’s car, the protestors laid siege to the vehicle and complained to her about the encroachments on the road.
The Collector and Dindigul police held talks with the people and assured them of action after which they dispersed. Traffic on the stretch was affected for an hour.
The people said that 500 families were living in Karuppudaiyanpatti and a two-km road was being newly laid from Emakkalapuram to the village at a cost of ₹18 crore. The project also includes seven small culverts. However, the road was being laid without removing encroachments, they complained.
“We gave a petition to the Dindigul Tahsildar after which the work was stopped. Bus services to the village were also stopped due to road work. It has been nearly two months and neither the encroachments have been removed, nor has the work resumed. Students, farmers and the public were finding it difficult to commute,” they complained.
