Panjapur-Karur Bypass road project awaits State government nod

The Tiruchi City Corporation’s proposal to build a new road from Panjapur to Karur Bypass is awaiting the nod of the State government

The Tiruchi City Corporation’s proposal to build a new road from Panjapur to Karur Bypass is awaiting the nod of the State government.

In an effort to decongest city roads, the Tiruchi City Corporation came up with a proposal to form a new road by strengthening the eastern bund of the Koraiyar and the Kudamuriti. It was aimed at strengthening the river banks to avoid breaches and flooding during monsoon.

As per the project, a road will be formed to a length of 12 km from the bus terminal to Karur Bypass. An elevated carriageway will come up on Tiruchi-Dindigul highway near Karumandapam. The project is estimated to cost about ₹340 crore. The carriageway will be nine metres wide and will be laid on the eastern bund of the Koraiyar and the Kudamuriti via Kuzhumayi Amman Temple and Woraiyur.

More than a year has passed since the Corporation submitted the detailed project report (DPR). Since it was pointed out that the land acquisitions would take several months to move forward, the DPR was modified to fix the alignment of the road to minimise the need for acquisition of land.

When the project was finalised it was planned in such a way to implement it at one go. However, considering the importance of early completion, the project was divided into three phases. While it was estimated that the package-I would cost about ₹87 crore, ₹80 crore would be earmarked for the package-II. Package-III would revolve around the areas where land acquisition was required.

Although the project was sent for a detailed analysis to identify sources of funds about six months ago, it is said that there had been no significant progress on getting the administrative sanction. It was kept in abeyance because of issues in identifying agencies for its execution.

A senior official of the Corporation told The Hindu that Lok Sabha elections and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which was still in force in the State, had come in the way of taking important decisions. The process would be expedited once the MCC ceases to be in force. Administrative sanction was expected in June. After getting the government clearance, steps would be taken to float tenders for the phase-I and phase-III of the project. Phase-II would take at least six months for calling for tender.