Several parts of the district, especially the coastal areas, received moderate showers on Sunday, bringing respite to the residents who were reeling under sweltering heat for the past several months.
The showers brought cheers to farmers who are pinning their hopes on the timely onset of monsoon for the ‘samba’ season.
The showers exposed the bad condition of roads in the rural highways. Bus services were suspended for the day on the Aranthangi-Avudaiyarkovil segment via Perunavalur and Veeramangalam causing hardship to residents, most of them agricultural labourers.
A cross-section of residents of Perunavalur village submitted a petition to the District Collector C. Manoharan, pleading for immediate repair of the rural highway road. They said that an estimated 10,000 residents in a cluster of villages, including Kulathu Kudiyiruppu, Dhaniyenandal, Mulliyanvayal, and Chellappankottai relied on the buses being operated via Perunavalur and Veeramangalam.
But the showers on Sunday badly damaged the road, disrupting vehicular movement and it was one of the several examples when bus services remained suspended shortly after a spell of moderate showers. The bad road posed a great difficulty to the two-wheeler riders, cyclists and school pupil, they said.
The people of the village, as a temporary relief, pleaded for diversion of a few select buses being operated on Aranthangi – Avudaiyarkovil highway through Perunavalur.
Municipal workers visited various petty shops on major streets in the town and seized waste tyres, tubes, coconut shells, and other materials to prevent the outbreak of any epidemic.
The inspection was conducted at two-wheeler service stations and other places in Rajagopalapuram, Thondaimannagar, and Palpannai.
C. Manoharan, District Collector, has appealed to the people to clear these waste material to prevent any epidemic.
