Hundreds of people living in St. Mary's Hill Road, as well as school students who use the route, are affected by the lack of a proper footpath leading from the hill to the Udhagamandalam Railway Station and main bus stop after the footpath that was dug up almost six months ago has still not been repaired.
Sources in the municipality said that the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board had dug up the footpath known as Violy Road, which people use to descend from near Nazareth Convent School and to the heart of the town.
Sathish Abudass, an area resident, said that the road was used regularly by residents, students and staff from a cluster of six to seven schools located in the area. Around six months ago, earthmovers were used to dig the road to lay pipes for the third water scheme, when the Railways objected to the digging of the road.
Work along the stretch immediately came to a stop and has since not been resumed, nor has the road been repaired. “I had met the municipality engineer, commissioner-in-charge and also petitioned the District Collector. A member of the Twad Board also visited the spot and said that he could do nothing and that it was up to the municipality to fix the road,” said Mr. Abudass.
Area residents said that now they are forced to take a much longer detour which would lead them onto the main road. They urged authorities to repair the section of the road and ensure public safety.