NHAI told to build foot overbridges on NH 66.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister U.T. Khader recently asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to build pedestrian foot overbridges at busy junctions along the four-laned NH 66 between Pumpwell and Thalapady.

He was speaking at a meeting convened to discuss grievances of residents on account of widening of the highway. When the authority could spend hundreds of crores of rupees on road-widening, it was equally important to build safe passage to pedestrians, which would cost a few crores of rupees, the Minister said.

Mr. Khader said that important junctions, such as Yekkur, Kallapu, Thokkottu, Kumpala and Kotekar, should get such overbridges.

The Minister was particularly angry over the NHAI’s attitude in not providing service roads along the widened highway. The authority had put signboards for service roads without building them. This, Mr. Khader said, had been inconveniencing road users.

The sign boards were only adding to the confusion. He asked the NHAI why a service road was not constructed near Thalapady toll gate and directed it to construct one.

Residents and panchayat members of Talapady, who were present, joined the Minister in airing their grievances and said the authority had not provided any facility to local residents.

The negligence on the part of NHAI had been contributing to fatal and non-fatal accidents on the widened road, they said.

When NHAI project director Samson Vijay Kumar attempted to defend the organisation saying there were objections for land acquisition at some stretches, Deputy Commissioner K.G. Jagadeesha took him to task saying the issue was not brought to his notice at a recent meeting.

THE HINDU