Amid rising concerns over frequent accidents on the Tiruchi-Karur National Highway section, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for a greenfield Tiruchi-Karur-Coimbatore highway, along with a northern bypass road in Tiruchi city.
The NHAI has floated tenders inviting Request for Proposals (RFP) from eligible consultants “for preparation of a DPR for four-laning of Tiruchi-Karur-Coimbatore (Greenfield) and a Northern Tiruchi bypass road, for a total tentative length of 230 km.”
The move comes amid persistent complaints of rising accident cases on the Tiruchi-Karur NH section, especially the 11-km stretch from Tiruchi to Thindukarai. A substantial portion of the highway section runs between the Cauvery river and the Tiruchi-Karur railway line, which has sharp and dangerous curves. Although this stretch was widened from its previous width of seven metres to up to 10.5 metres by the State Highways Department a few years ago, accidents continue unabated on the road.
The NHAI had widened the Tiruchi-Karur Highway beyond Thindukarai several years ago. A bypass road is to be built between Panjapur on Tiruchi-Madurai highway and Thindukarai as part of a semi-ring road, which is also in the DPR-preparation stage.
Although a proposal for building a greenfield highway between Tiruchi and Karur was mooted a few years ago, the NHAI appeared to be wary of the huge land acquisition that it would entail on the fertile belt along the Cauvery. The NHAI had also rejected a plea from the public to develop an alternative road between Allithurai and Mayanur tollgate.
Now, the NHAI has apparently combined the plans for building a greenfield highways between Tiruchi and Karur and Karur and Coimbatore, besides the northern bypass in Tiruchi. The northern bypass to connect major highways around the city was initially planned by the State Highways Department a few years ago, but the proposal failed to take off. The bypass was planned from Thuvakudi on Tiruchi-Thanjavur and connect the Tiruchi-Chidambaram, Tiruchi-Chennai, and Tiruchi-Karur national highways. The bypass proposed by the NHAI is also likely to connect all these highways.
While welcoming the NHAI’s move, P. Ayyarappan, president, Road Users Welfare Association, said that the DPR should be prepared expeditiously and the project should reach the execution stage quickly. “There was some talk of a DPR being prepared for a greenfield highway between Tiruchi and Karur a few years ago. At least now the DPR should be prepared quickly. The NHAI should also quickly finalise the DPR for the semi-ring road, which would connect Panjapur and Thindukarai,” he said.