Fed up with driving in the dark and navigating around potholes on the Pulicat to Ennore stretch on East Coast Road, the fisherfolk of Pulicat want the road to be improved.
Durai Mahendran, a resident, said the stretch was presently a narrow one with many bends.
“Two-wheelers apart, share autorickshaws that provide connectivity to small hamlets on the route use the road. We need streetlights as the road runs through very rough terrain,” he said.
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The road connects several habitations whose residents too demand better connectivity.
Karunakaran of Light House Kuppam in Pulicat said the road provided faster connectivity to the city.
“It is a shorter route than the one via Ponneri, which is 60 km long. It takes just an hour to reach Ennore as the Kattupalli route does not have much traffic and is just about 40 km. If we travel through Ponneri, it takes more than two hours to reach the government general hospital. Our youngsters too can go to city colleges easily if this road is improved,” he said.
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The new bridge across the Ennore Creek, connecting Ennore and Athipet, will provide better connectivity.
Residents have submitted petitions to the State government seeking to widen the road, which was laid after the tsunami.
Sources in the highways department said the road belonged to the Minjur panchayat union and that it was up to the local body to take steps.