Residents protest for new subway on Chennai-Bengaluru Highway in Ambur

Residents, including women, farmers, and traders, staged a protest for the construction of a new subway on Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 48), which is maintained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), at Sandrorkuppam village in Ambur town in Tirupattur on Sunday.

Residents said the village, which had around 3,000 houses, formed a part of 31, 33, and 34 wards of Ambur municipality. Apart from residential colonies, the village also had over 1,200 acres of agricultural land, where paddy was cultivated at least two seasons in a year.

“We have been demanding a vehicular subway to curb accidents on an accident prone stretch on the narrow service lane,” said S. Gopinathan, a resident. Municipal officials said residents decided to protest for a new subway as the NHAI planned to close the narrow crossing on the service lane to prevent accidents. As per police reports, accidents occurred at that crossing, especially during night, as motorists failed to notice the vehicles and pedestrians coming from the village.

Municipal officials said the road crossing had been in use since it was a narrow single-lane road many years ago. The crossing is used by people including farmers, students, and traders. “We have asked the NHAI to construct the subway at Sandrorkuppam village to make the crossing safe for residents,” A. Muthusamy, Commissioner, Ambur Municipality, told The Hindu.

Residents said apart from Sandrorkuppam village, tribal hamlets near Ambur would be affected by the closure of the road crossing. Currently, there is a vehicular subway at Solur, the nearest village that has a safe crossing. Solur is about 2 km from Sandrorkuppam.

NHAI officials said efforts would be taken to build a new underpass near the village to provide safe passage for both motorists and pedestrians.