High-level bridge to come up across Tamil Nadu's Kanthaiyaru river soon

COIMBATORE: The villagers of Kandhavayal, Kanthaiyur, Mokkaimedu, Aalur and Uliyur could finally heave a sigh of relief, as their more than a decade old demand for a high-level bridge across Kanthaiyaru river near Sirumugai would materialize soon.
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) and the rural roads wing of the State Highways Department had awarded the tender to construct the high-level bridge across Kanthaiyaru river on Lingapuram-Kandhavayal road to a private firm in February this year. The tender was floated last year.
The state government has, meanwhile, sanctioned ₹15.4 crore for the construction of the high-level bridge.
Presently, Lingapuram and Kandhavayal, Kanthaiyur, Mokkaimedu, Aalur and Uliyur villages are connected by a low-level bridge that the District Rural Development Agency constructed in 2005. Located in the backwater area of Bhavanisagar reservoir, the bridge submerges whenever the water level in the dam increases, often cutting off the five villages from the rest of the area.
While Bhavanisagar reservoir is 120ft high, its full water capacity is capped at 105ft. Whenever the water level reaches 97ft, the bridge and the roads would submerge, severing connectivity to the five villages in the backwater area of the dam.
The villagers then take ferry service (coracle and fiber boats) to travel to Lingapuram and back. The have been urging the state government for more than a decade to construct a high-level bridge to address their woes.
The high-level bridge would now be built adjacent to the existing bridge, which wouldn't be razed down.
On Friday, Arulmozhi, superintending engineer, Nabard and rural roads wing; Somasundaramurugan, divisional engineer; Kothai, assistant divisional engineer; and Ramamurthy, assistant engineer, visited Kandhavayal area and inspected the place where the high-level bridge would be constructed. They said the work would begin in May.
According to an official source, the high-level bridge would be 168 metres long and 9.9 metres wide. It will be constructed above 3.4 metres from the ground level, to prevent flood water from submerging it.
"The construction work will be stopped whenever the water level in the dam soars above 97ft. The work will be completed within one and a half years, if we don't face many disruptions. We will increase the height of the road at both the ends of the bridge. Once the flyover is ready, the villagers of Kandhavayal, Kanthaiyur, Mokkaimedu, Aalur and Uliyur need not have to use ferry services whenever the water level increases in the reservoir," the source said.