Vellore UGD to be completed by Feb end; traffic woes rankle

VELLORE: Vellore corporation will have an underground drainage scheme completed by February end and the corporation would have covered a total distance of 40 km covering city, state and national highways, P Ashok Kumar, corporation commissioner told DT Next.

Being constructed under the central government’s Amrut (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme, the scheme will have lifting and pumping stations abutting the Palar at Sathuvachary where the treated water will be let out into the Palar.

But for commuters using the busy Arcot Road, the construction of the drain at Kagithapattarai generates traffic jams during peak hours with vehicles being directed by the construction staff and not police.

“As the road where work is on is not re-laid, two and four-wheelers are forced to use the side meant for oncoming traffic fearing that they might sink into the mud. This is the reason for traffic bottlenecks,” says K Sathiyamoorthy, Vellore district consumer federation president.

“What adds to the woes is that a well-known private hospital in the own sends its buses in convoys during peak hours which further aggravates the problem which the district administration does not seem to be aware of,” he added.

Commissioner Ashok Kumar said, “The solution is the hospital buses should leave their premises through the ‘out’ gate on Katpadi Road and reach the Bengaluru – Chennai national highway via Makkan, old bypass road and Green Circle, which will thus ensure no traffic jams at Kagithapattarai.”