Road blockade at Kodanad-Kotagiri road
Udhagamandalam: Traffic on the Kodanad-Kotagiri road was disrupted for nearly two hours on Tuesday following a road blockade agitation staged by the residents of Anna Nagar.It was in protest against the restrictions imposed by the owners of the Kodanad Estate on the use of their private road for vehicles.It was stated that the road passing through the estate had been used by the Anna Nagar residents for long since there was no alternative. There was a proposal to lay an alternative road extending over about six kilometres.However since two kilometres would have to be laid in a forest area, the proposal had been put in cold storage.The practice of the estate management was to allow Anna Nagar-bound vehicles to pass through after collecting a token amount. There was no restriction on pedestrians using the road.Since a gram sabha meeting was scheduled to be held at Anna Nagar on Tuesday, a number of vehicles started using the private road.Contending that permission had been given only to the residents of Anna Nagar, the Estate Manager had closed the gate.Security had also been cited as one of the reasons as the former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was staying at the estate now. With the meeting being called off, the residents led by the Panchayat President Ponthose had resorted to the road blockade.Officials including the Deputy Superintendent of Police S.K.Sundararajan rushed to the spot and held talks with the agitators. They wanted a permanent road to be laid.An assurance was given that the matter would be taken up.
