Years of wait for residents in at least eight villages near Ambur town in Tirupattur came to an end on Saturday, as the work on high-level bridge across Palar river, connecting Minnur and Vadakarai villages in Madhanur panchayat union, commenced.
Residents, who are mostly farmers and small traders, said the new bridge was a long-standing demand of remote villages across the river to reach big towns like Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Jolarpet and Madhanur on the Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 44) for accessing basic facilities, including government schools, primary healthcare centre, banks, ATMs, bus terminus, taluk office and community centres.
“We have to take a de-tour of at least 12km to reach these big towns all these years. During the monsoon, our villages get flooded when the water level in the river rises. We can’t shift sick and pregnant women to the nearest hospital during emergencies,” said S. Pakkiyam, a resident.
Accompanied by Collector K. Tharpagaraj and DMK MP, Vellore D.M. Kathir Anand, Minister for Public Works E.V. Velu laid the foundation stone for the multi-crore project. The new two-lane bridge, which will be 164.84 metres long and 15 metres wide, will have at least eight vents to prevent water stagnation on the carriageway and to facilitate discharge into the river below.
The bridge, which is being constructed at a cost of ₹8.81 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of NABARD by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), will be at least three metres higher than the existing bridges on the river. It will help to prevent any damage to its structure and inundation to its carriageway. In other words, the bridge will be built at a height of 20 feet from the river bed.
For residents, the new bridge will help them reach Ambur, Tirupattur and Vaniyambadi towns much faster as the distance between the villages and Ambur, the nearest town, will be only two km. Most of the students in these villages were enrolled in government schools in Madhanur or Ambur. They can reach schools and colleges on time. Many of these villages do not have bus services due to poor connectivity. Once the bridge work is completed, bus services to these villages will be started. “Most of the pillar work for the new bridge will be completed before monsoon. The new bridge will be ready by mid-2025,” said S. Bhoopalan, Assistant Engineer (A.E), DRDA (Tirupattur).
