Tirupur: Tirupur AIADMK MP V Sathyabama submitted a petition to Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi on Friday seeking to build road over bridges (ROBs) at major junctions on the NH544 running through Salem-Kochi-Kanyakumari stretch.
In her petition, Sathyabama said the stretch has witnessed more than 300 fatal accidents in the past three years.
The NH 544 connects important cities including Salem, Coimbatore, Thrissur and Kochi apart from other commercial cities in western districts of Tamil Nadu.
"The NH, one of the lifelines of the region, runs for 43km in Tirupur constituency. There are 22 major and 15 minor junctions connecting the adjacent villages in the constituency," said Sathyabama.
Many public transportation buses, private buses and other vehicles pass through the road. Despite a heavy traffic, out of 22 major junctions, only 8 were provided with the road over bridges in the stretch. In the past four years, 300 fatal accidents had occurred in the stretch. The absence of the road over bridges in major junctions could also be a reason for the fatal accidents, she said. "The stretch has witnessed many fatal accidents on the junctions. Sometimes the death toll would be more than two," said a police officer.
"There was a need to intervene to save the lives of poor agriculturists living in the nearby villages. Road over bridges should be constructed on four junctions - Perundurai-Kanjikovil-Kavindhapadi, Perundurai-Thudupathy-Makkinamkombai, Kolathupalayam-Vijayamangalam and
Perundurai-Pethampalayam-Kanjikovil - on priority basis as more accidents take place in these junctions," Sathyabama said in her petition.
