TIRUCHI
Frustrated over the inordinate delay in laying service lanes along the city stretch of the Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway, the Federation for Retrieval of Tiruchi-Palpannai-Thuvakudi Service Roads, an umbrella organisation of residents associations, has called for a boycott of the ensuring Lok Sabha elections to register their protest.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the federation held on Saturday, its organisers said in a statement issued here on Sunday. “We have decided to boycott the Lok Sabha election condemning the State government for its failure to commence the land acquisition process as per the Central government notification issued in May 2014,” the federation statement said.
The federation had been fighting for the construction of service lanes on the 14.5-km stretch ever since the National Highways Authority of India executed the four-laning project on the Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway (NH-67).
Amidst recurring accidents in the absence of the service lanes and rapid commercial and industrial development along the road, public resentment has been rising due to the delay in acquiring the required land for laying the service lanes. Although the NHAI had made provisions for laying the service lanes, an earlier proposal for land acquisition was dropped owing to stiff opposition from local traders who feared displacement. The road stretch runs along the highly industrialised part of the city and a large number of industrial units, commercial establishments, schools, and residential colonies were situated along the road. The residents alleged that accidents have become frequent in the absence of service lanes.
Subsequently, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a public notification, declaring its intention to acquire land for laying service lanes for a distance of nearly 15 km from Ariyamangalam to Thuvakudi. The State government too issued an order sanctioning ₹ 84.5 crore to be given towards compensation for the land to be acquired for the service lanes along the highway. But the process of the land acquisition is yet to be completed.
In April 2016, the federation filed a petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court but a final verdict is still awaited, the organisers said.
The federation also resolved to participate in the agitations planned by the Tiruverumbur MLA Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on the issue.
Various other agitation plans, including launching a signature campaign and organising road blockades, were discussed at the meeting, the organisers said.