Eviction of encroachments in progress on Avanashi Road
Eviction of encroachments in progress on Avanashi Road on Tuesday.Preliminary works for widening the 16-km stretch of the Avanashi Road from Uppilipalayam to Neelambur bypass road junction started with the authorities commencing the eviction of encroachments on Tuesday.The State Government had sanctioned Rs. 27 crore for the work. District Collector Neeraj Mittal recently called for a meeting of all the agencies concerned to bring in the much required co-ordination for the work for widening the road into a six-lane. The road passes through three taluks – Coimbatore South, Coimbatore North and Palladam. In the first phase, the road alignment and the encroachments on either side of the road were identified through a survey.The highway authorities remitted money for shifting the lampposts and transformers and the TNEB had already commenced that work. Though there was no need for major demolition the authorities had identified some encroachments of smaller size.On Tuesday, five teams led by Tahsildars V. Subramanian (Coimbatore South), N. Santhanam (Coimbatore North) and P. Nagarajan (Palladam) along with Highway officials led by Divisional Engineer, Thangadurai and Assistant Divisional Engineer, Nagaraj commenced the eviction of encroachments. The teams divided the entire stretch into five sections and pressed ten earth movers, twenty trucks and more than 100 workers.
After evicting the encroachments, the authorities had planned to plant saplings/trees in the extreme road boundaries on either side of Avanashi Road. On Tuesday, the authorities removed over 100 encroachments majority of them being commercial establishments, STD booths, shops and compound walls. The drive is expected to continue for two or three more days to make space available on either side for the road laying works.The Corporation, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board and telecom officials are planning their work schedule for removing the cables, power lines, water lines to the extreme road boundary.
