Pilgrims bound for Kanipakkam temple near Chittoor via Puthalapattu are a worried lot. Reason? Dangerous potholes on the 18-km road, coupled with damaged stretches at every bend. In the last one year, three accidents occurred on the road, while the number of injured cases is many times more.
The road, a diversion from the Tirupati-Bengaluru NH, is used by thousands of pilgrims every day coming from Tirupati ferried by more than 30 APSRTC buses, over 300 SUVs and umpteen number of two-wheelers. Numerous villages dot the roadside from Puthalapattu to Kanipakkam. It is not an exaggeration but nearly a 100 pot holes dot the road. At many places, the road remains damaged with patches. The recent rains had damaged it further.
Though Roads and Buildings Department officials had widened the road in recent years and blacktopped it, over three years the road has simply turned highly accident-prone.
No signboards
Villagers of Agarampalle observed that fortunately, the road traffic thins down from dusk based on the Kanipakkam temple timings. “At night, travelling on the road is highly risky for the pilgrims as there are no proper signboards to guide the drivers. The Kanipakkam Temple Devasthanam, which gets good revenue, can do something to bail out devotees from the perils of potholes,” they said.
Social activist Mahesh Swaero of Thiruvanampalle village of Irala mandal said in the absence of signboards, daily over 20 vehicles enter their village, and turn back to the main road after being guided by locals. “This is a big inconvenience to the devotees. At night, it would be difficult for them to get guidance over directions,” he said. Though he had made a number of representations with the district administration to look into the problem of frequent accidents on the road, there was no response.
Veering off
Villagers complained due to potholes and patches, vehicles drive to extreme left or right to avoid collisions. This is proving dangerous to pedestrians and two-wheeler riders.
A number of small accidents resulting in simple injuries or vehicle damages would rarely get the attention of the police as the two sides would be settling the issues privately to avoid causing inconvenience to passengers. Many devotees from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu prefer not to approach the police, as they are on a pilgrimage.
Sub-Inspector (Kanipakkam) Krishna Mohan acknowledged that the Puthalapattu-Kanipakkam road is in a very bad shape. “The road requires immediate attention in the interest of road safety,” he said.
