Slow pace of work testing patience of Madurai residents

MADURAI: The delay in the construction of a bridge (elevated corridor), which is underway at Mudakkusalai junction on Theni road in Madurai, is testing the patience of people, especially the residents of Doak Nagar, a residential area.

The construction site blocked the passage of vehicular traffic, which is being diverted through the key access road of Doak Nagar with a series of houses on both sides.

The annoying thing among the residents is that the traffic congestion causes noise, dust, and pollution and in turn causes respiratory problems, N Sankarapandian, a retired bank employee, who resides in the area, said.

Many residents were irked over the slow pace of work day by day since the maddening traffic through the only stretch is causing serious health hazards. It seems only about ten to fifteen personnel are working on the construction project, which requires a huge workforce to complete the task.

Further, he suggested an alternate way behind a school at Kochadai to connect Theni road to ease traffic congestion. This move could limit motorway access through Doak Nagar road to some extent. Citing these, he said at least vehicles; especially emergency ambulance vans, buses, and vans of educational institutions could ply through this alternative route and reduce traffic problems.

Arjunan, another resident from Doak Nagar, said many suffered sleepless nights as many vehicles, which move at a snail’s pace since the Doak Nagar road is kept awfully bad, were honking their horns. Much to agony, ambulance sirens often jolted the residents from sleep. Ambulance services are essential, but siren calls could be avoided while moving through the road.

Earlier when the project took off, buses and other heavy vehicles plied the Doak Nagar road unusually and snapped EB lines, much to the residents’ irritation.

But after this nagging problem was represented before the court, heavy vehicles were prevented.

The Doak Nagar road, which was laid 12 years ago, is in bad shape. The authorities could at least relay the road on humanitarian grounds. Only temporary solutions were made and it often causes dusty smoke further aggravating the problem, the resident said.

Reliable sources from the Highways Department told DT Next that over 50 per cent of the construction works got completed and the construction work has been expedited.

The 1.19-kilometre-long elevated corridor project, for which work orders were given with effect from April 2021, was awarded for a period of two years at an estimated cost of Rs 37 crore.

But the contractor delayed the works for about six months and the government imposed a fine of Rs 37 lakh on the contractor. It’s not actually the contractor, but since there’s no concrete decision on traffic diversion, it resulted in delays.

The elevated corridor would comprise a total of 33 spans and out of which, 18 spans have been constructed so far. The construction is expected to be over in another seven or eight months.