The 11.5km narrow stretch of road on the Karur-Trichy National Highway 67 maintained by the state highways department may be a small distance, but at least eight people were killed in multiple road accidents in the stretch in the last six months. While commuters travelling by four-wheelers face less difficulty in accessing the stretch, two-wheeler riders identify the stretch as a ‘death trap’ citing the danger they experience. Though a proposal to acquire land for widening the road was submitted by the state highways department, it seems that the proposal has not made any headway, while accidents are on the rise on a daily-basis on the stretch.The 82-km NH 67 connecting Karur and Trichy is a vital link used by travellers from Kerala and other western districts of the state to reach the central and delta districts. Besides this, a large number of heavy vehicles carrying industrial products make use of the road. Accidents are regular on the 11.5km two-lane stretch between Kudamurutti Bridge and Anthanallur. The villagers from agrarian hamlets between Kambarasampettai and Mutharasanallur who commute on two-wheelers are mostly the victims."The narrow two-lane road is just 7.5feet wide. As the sides of the road are ridged very steep, two-wheeler riders use to take the middle of the road in this stretch. And with many curves, the stretch dotted with blind spots witness accidents on any given day," P Aiyarappan, an Allur-based RTI activist said. Acknowledging the constraints in widening the narrow road as it is sandwiched between banks of Cauvery on one end, and railway lands on the other, villagers sought the road to be widened to the possible extent. "Quality of the narrow road is fine, but vehicles approach the two-lane in the same pace as they access four-lane stretch and met with accidents," P Subash, resident of Pettavaithalai told TOI.The state highways department had prepared a proposal to extend the road by 2.5 feet on each side at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore, but the proposal has not seen any development in the past six months. "Widening of the road has disrupted due to many constraints including land issues. If the required fund was sanctioned, widening would commence without any delay," a senior official with the state highways department said. The official reserved comments on the delay in sanctioning funds. With such uncertainty, local people said that MLA S Valarmathi, representing Srirangam constituency and the backward class welfare minister, was not serious to their demands.

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