Residents of Rangapuram and Mullakollai areas, falling under ward 24 of the Vellore Corporation on Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 44) near the Collectorate, blocked tipper lorries and trucks that damaged the underground water pipelines and roads in the area, on Wednesday.
The vehicles have been carrying loads of mud from private lands in Chenganatham village, near dry Palar, round-the-clock, for the past few weeks. The continuous movement of vehicles has left the Chenganatham Hill Road, a lifeline for residents in ward 24 of the civic body and surrounding villages, severely damaged. “The main road has been battered due to non-stop movement of lorries with heavy loads of mud from private lands. Schoolchildren and senior citizens were frequently hurt while using the damaged stretch, which is also a short route to reach neighbouring villages,” said R. Satish Kumar, a resident.
Unlike before, when lorries and trucks used to take the Katpadi route to reach the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway via Vellore town, these vehicles have been using the Chenganatham Hill Road via Rangapuram, for the past few weeks, citing shorter distance for reaching the highway.
The distance between the private lands and the highway via Rangapuram is only around 5 km, while it is over 15 km if the vehicles took the Katpadi route. Also, Rangapuram route has less traffic than the Katpadi stretch, which is chaotic. The use of these routes saves fuel costs for the lorry and tractor operators of the private lands.
The residents said the Chenganatham Hill Road was in a state of neglect ever since the pipelines for the underground drainage work were laid by the civic body, more than a year ago. Since then, no efforts have been taken by the Corporation authorities, including officials of Zone-2 of the civic body, to relay the stretch. Petitions have been given by residents of these areas to the Corporation and the district administration but the stretch has not been repaired.
Based on alerts from motorists, revenue officials and Sathuvachari police reached the spot and pacified the protesting residents. After over two hours of talks, the residents allowed the vehicles to pass with an assurance from revenue officials and the police that the damaged stretch will be relaid soon. Officials said overspeeding and running hours of the lorries would be monitored by a special team to prevent such incidents. “Steps will be taken to relay the stretch in the area soon,” said P. Janaki Raveendran, Commissioner, Vellore Corporation.
