Tiruchy residents demand underpass, block traffic on bypass to Chennai

TIRUCHY: Tension prevailed for a while when the residents from Sanjeevi Nagar resorted to a road block protest at Tiruchy-Chennai bypass on Thursday, demanding an underpass to prevent frequent accidents in the location.

It is said that Sanjeevi Nagar used to witness a huge traffic as it connects the Tiruchy-Chennai bypass and the residents from around 20 residential areas, including Ariyamangalam, Panayakurichi, Sarkarpalayam, Vengur, and Kallanai use Sanjeevi Nagar to reach the bypass, and the stretch is used to witness frequent fatal accidents. The residents had been demanding a bypass, but there was no positive nod from the officials.

In such a backdrop, on Thursday, two lorries had a head-on collision at Sanjeevi Nagar, and it disrupted the traffic movement. The irate residents from around 20 villages gathered at the Tiruchy-Chennai bypass and blocked the vehicle movements, and the traffic was disrupted on the bypass.

On information, the Fort police rushed to the spot and held talks with the protesting residents, but they failed to disperse from the spot.

Subsequently, Tiruchy East Tahsildar Vigneswaran and Assistant Engineer of NHAI Ashok Kumar held talks with the residents.

Upon assurance by the officials, the residents withdrew the protest. The traffic was affected for more than two hours on the Tiruchy-Chennai bypass.