CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has approved construction of a bypass at Papparapatti town in Dharmapuri district to make tourist movement towards Hogenakkal falls easier.
Tourists visiting the falls from Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka have to cross Papparapatti town, located on Palacode-Nagarasampatti Road (State Highway 224), to reach their destination. This coupled with movement of heavy vehicles like trucks, tankers and trailers has made traffic congestion worse at the town.
So chief engineer (highways) proposed to construct a 4.4-km bypass road to avoid Papparapatti and two other villages -- Madehalli and Onnappagoundampalli. The total land required for the project is 16.37 hectares. Of this, almost 90% is private patta land.
The state government on February 3 sanctioned Rs 8 crore to acquire land for the infra project.