The practice of homeless people sleeping on the divider of the road overbridge (RoB) between Periyar Nagar and Thiruvanaikoil poses danger to their lives and the motorists.
Unlike many other road overbridges, a concrete divider was built along the centre of the Thiruvanaikoil RoB so as to ensure trouble-free ride for the vehicles approaching from southern and northern directions. But the low-height divider, which is about a metre in height, has come in handy for homeless persons. Since the width of the divider is broad enough for lying down, many prefer to sleep over it at night. As there is no protection, they could easily fall on the road when they turn over in sleep. But, without realising the danger, they sleep on the divider.
It has raised the danger of runover by cars, two-wheelers and other vehicles. At least 15 to 20 persons could be seen sleeping on the divider at night.
“It is disheartening to see the homeless people sleeping on the low-height divider in a dangerous manner. It poses danger to the motorists also,” says S. Mohanraj of Thiruvanaikoil, a regular user of the road.
The motorists demand that the State Highways should take immediate steps to increase the height of the divider in order to prevent people from sleeping on it.
