Hill areas to have van service as public transport: Sivasankar

TIRUCHY: Steps would be initiated to operate van transport for the benefit of the people living in the terrain region, said State Minister SS Sivasankar on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Ariyalur, Sivasankar said, the long-pending demand of the farmers from Varanavasi in Ariyalur for a check dam across Marudhai Aru, the government released a GO for the project in the month of April, and the works had commenced at an estimated cost of Rs 24.30 crore.

The completion of the check dam would benefit the farmers from the region as the water from the catchment areas in the Pachamalai hillocks would flow into the Marudhai aru, which would recharge as many as 69 wells, step up the groundwater level and support irrigation for at least 400 acres of land.

Meanwhile, the minister said that the residents from the hill areas have long been demanding for proper transport facility, and the government had continued the study for the feasibility of operating buses and arrived at a decision to operate vans as public transport, for which the announcement would soon be made and the transport facility would be introduced in a phased manner.