Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangaswamy on Wednesday urged Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari to provide funds for relaying of the damaged Cuddalore road on National Highway-45.
In a letter to the Union Minister the Chief Minister mentioned that an amount of Rs 19 crore is sanctioned for the relaying of the road.
He has also requested Gadkari to direct the official concerned to issue an administrative sanction for the Union territory authorities to take up the work.
Road travel in the stretch in NH-45 from Indira Gandhi square to Mullodai in Cuddalore district border with Tamil Nadu is difficult or rather not possible due to potholes and cracks in the road.
The floods that lashed the Union territory during 2021 have taken a toll on the road and the Chief Minister, in the letter has given a detailed description of the wear and tear of the road and to immediately provide administrative sanction for the same.
“This is an urgent requirement for the Puducherry region to ensure that the road is free of potholes,” the letter read.
Proposal for restoration work of the damaged road was submitted to the Regional officer, Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways (MORTH) at Chennai on October 12, 2021. Following this, a letter was sent from the regional office of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Chennai to the Chief General Manager, NHAI, New Delhi on February 22, 2022, with recommendations to issue the NOC.
Rangaswamy urged the Union Minister that as the budget year 2021-22 is nearing completion there was an urgent need to take up the rectification work with the funds allocated by the MORTH, New Delhi.
He said that if the work was not completed in the current financial year funds will have to be surrendered.
Notably, the territorial government of Puducherry is facing severe criticism from the general public for the non-repair of this important road making travel very difficult for the people.
M. Sathikumar, a Social activist and Congress leader while speaking to IANS said: “The Chief Minister was forced to write this letter as the public is in an agitation mode and if the Government does not take this up now, things would go out of hands.”