Even five months after the State government issued an order sanctioning Rs.84.50 crore towards acquisition of 35.51 hectares for the laying of service roads along the highly accident-prone 14.49 km Palpannai-Thuvakkudi stretch on the Tiruchi-Thanjavur Highway, a perceptible follow-up action is not visible yet.
Much to the relief of the residents in hundreds of localities on either side of the stretch, the AIADMK government sanctioned the amount, fulfilling the poll promise of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa that service lanes would be laid at all costs to prevent loss of lives due to accidents.
The party provided popular backing for mass campaigns carried out by the Federation for Retrieval of Tiruchi Palpannai-Thuvakkudi Service Road, when the previous regime was impervious to the dire requirement of the public, due to the influence exerted by political bigwigs and traders.
The sanction of the amount for land acquisition was welcomed by one and all. Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister for keeping the promise to save lives, Federation organisers M.Shanmugam and S.Sakthivel wondered why it should take so long for the district administration to coordinate the activities of all associated departments for expediting the process of land acquisition. Early action by the district administration will be in the interests of the State government's exchequer due to the alarming cost escalation in land acquisition, they said.
In only a year's time the cost of land acquisition has nearly doubled. In the communication sent by the NHAI to the State Chief Secretary on August 23, 2010, the cost towards land acquisition was mentioned as Rs.45crore. The NHAI had assured that it was prepared to spend Rs.55 crore for constructing the service roads under NHDP (National Highways Development Project) Phase-VII, in the event of the State government acquiring land.
The State government should act fast and initiate land acquisition on war footing, thereby not letting any scope for vested interests to besmirch the goodwill it enjoys with the people, the Federation representatives said, adding that the public, especially several thousands of students in a plethora of institutions travel along the stretch every day with constant fear of accidents.
Prompt action by the State government would particularly serve well the interests of industry. Movement of equipment loads from BHEL and its hundreds of ancillaries could be made hassle-free only when there are service-lanes. Road-side parkings could then be restricted to service lanes and the four-lane part could be used maximally for free movement of traffic, say regular road users.
