Road development work started

Tuticorin: The State Highways Department will take up road development works in the district on an estimated outlay of Rs. 28.97 crore during the current fiscal. It is expected to improve connectivity between rural areas and towns.Official sources said that widening and strengthening of State Highways, major district roads and other district roads, and upgrading of mud roads in villages to black top roads according to standards set for the other district roads, would be carried out.

A sum of Rs. 19 crore would be earmarked for improving 20 selected stretches of different State Highways passing through the district as per the Indian Roads Congress standards. It would be to a length of 50.845 km."Besides strengthening the road surface, all single lane stretches would be converted to double lane to ensure smooth flow of traffic," sources said.A total of six major district road stretches totalling 15 km would be widened.The work would be carried out on an outlay of Rs. 2.94 crore to facilitate two-lane traffic.Similarly, 17.96 km of other district road stretches, which connect production centres in mofussil areas with taluk headquarters, would be widened and strengthened on an outlay of Rs. 3.96 crore.

Using the loan assistance allocated under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the department would convert five mud roads, totaling 9.6 km, to black top roads at a cost of Rs 3.07 crore. The spans selected were Chettiapathu-Andivilai, Mallalpudukulam road (Karungulam block), Keezhathattaparai-Perurani, Ramachandrapuram-Theri and Jyothi Nagar road (Tuticorin block).A bridge of 100 metre in length and 7.5 metre in width would be constructed at Muthiapuram on Tuticorin-Tiruchendur State Highway during this fiscal on an outlay of Rs 3.3 crore earmarked under the RIDF of NABARD.It would replace the existing bridge.