After nearly a week since Periyakulam-Adukkam ghat road suffered landslides, Collector M. Vijayalakshmi inspected the ongoing repair work on Sunday.
She directed officials to expedite the work on war-footing.
The ghat road that was already under construction is a long-time demand of the people of hamlets like Adukkam and Palamalai, as the villages have only a primary school. The children from these areas have to either go to Perumalmalai or Periyakulam for continuing education in a middle or high school.
The total length of the road from Periyakulam to Perumalmalai junction is 35 km of which five km passes through the Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary area and a small stretch passes through the Reserve Forest.
However, the road is seen as an alternative to Palani-Batlagundu ghat road to reach Kodaikanal, especially for vehicles coming from Theni, Cumbum and Kerala.
“The road when completed will save a distance of 40 km for vehicles from Kerala and it also connects important tourist sites of Kumbakarai falls and Kodaikanal,” said A. Senthil Kumar, Assistant Engineer, Kodaikanal Sub-Division.
While almost 65% of the road was laid and completed, heavy rains led to massive landslides in over half a dozen places.
“There were also minor landslips. Though we had cleared the road for light weight vehicles, huge boulders came rolling down a few days ago at five places on either side of Adukkam. Currently, we are blasting those boulders by using low power explosives,” he added.
“There are 40 persons from the Disaster Management team who are currently working on the road repair. It may take another week to 10 days to restore the road and open it fully for vehicular movement,” he said.
The road is also expected to ease traffic congestion on Kodaikanal-Batlagundu ghat road as it will be used as an alternative route to ascend and descend the hill.
