Several busy stretches of the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway in Tiruchi limits are increasingly becoming potential accident zones because of poor illumination, which poses a threat to road users at night. This emboldens criminals to operate without fear.
ADVERTISEMENT
Motorists have been facing difficulties while travelling on the overbridge near Ponmalai Railway Station on the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway and in navigating the curve connecting Senthaneerpuram with G. Corner at night because of poor illumination.
“The situation is no different along the stretch between Mannarpuram and Panjappur on the Tiruchi-Madurai National Highway, where miscreants take advantage of the darkness in the absence of street lights and have attempted to commit robberies,” said S. Alamelu, a road user from K.K. Nagar.
ADVERTISEMENT
P. Ayyarappan, president of the Road Users Welfare Association, said there were no street lights along the highway near G-Corner, an accident zone. Despite raising this issue many times in the road safety meeting, no steps have been taken to illuminate the stretch. Criminal elements target the two-wheeler riders on the poorly lit stretch. The road between Senthaneerpuram and G-Corner, Mannarpuram and Panjappur are becoming a hotspot for the activities of anti-social elements. The NHAI should take steps immediatelyh to install street lights along the stretches.
Recently, the overbridge on one of the carriageways of the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway near the Ponmalai Railway Station was closed for traffic after damages were noticed along its approach road. The police allowed two-way traffic on the other carriageway along the stretch and imposed restrictions on the movement of heavy vehicles. However, vehicles continue to move at a snail’s pace in the bumper-to-bumper crawl. This situation further inflated the traffic woes of road users.
A proposal to install double-arm solar street lights along the stretch between Senthaneerpuram and G-Corner on the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway is ready to be finalised. After a field-level inspection to finalise locations for street lights, the proposal will be forwarded to the NHAI for approval, official sources told The Hindu.
The agency is slated to install solar street lights on priority basis in six identified locations recommended by the traffic police along the stretch between Mannarpuram and Panjappur on the Tiruchi-Madurai National Highway by next week.