To fulfil the demand of people in Wards 5 and 15, the Salem Corporation has begun construction of three bridges across the Varattaru river, aimed at preventing traffic congestion during the rainy season.

When it rains in Yercaud and Shervaroyan hills, water reaches the foothills and from there it will reach the Varattaru, passing through Wards 5 and 15 before flowing into the Thirumanimutharu River. As there are only small bridges across Varattaru, during heavy rain, water flows over the road and affects traffic movement. The problem is severe at the low-level bridge at ATC Nagar near Gorimedu, where the heavy water flow in the bridge hits vehicle movement. Likewise, at Arun Nagar, Lakshmi Sundar Nagar, and KMS Garden in Ward 15, traffic movement is affected during the rainy season. So, people residing in these wards have been demanding that the Salem Corporation construct new bridges instead of low-level bridges.

Heeding to the plea by the residents, the Corporation allocated ₹5.55 crore to construct a total of three bridges at ATC Nagar in Ward 5, and Arun Nagar and Lakshmi Nagar in Ward 15.

On Wednesday, Tourism Minister R. Rajendran participated in the ground-breaking ceremony and inaugurated the works. Corporation officials said that work will be completed in the next six to nine months. The Minister also inspected Varattaru and instructed the Corporation officials to complete the bridge works soon.

Ravichandran, a resident of ATC Nagar, said that the 40-year demand of the local residents had been fulfilled. Earlier, there were only a few houses in the locality and the vehicle movement was also less. But in the past 10 years, the number of houses had increased and also the number of vehicles.

During last year’s rain, a man fell off the low-level bridge while passing on his moped. A 20-foot-long python reached the residential area in our locality following the rain in Yercaud. If the bridge is constructed, the rainwater will pass underneath it and traffic will not halt, Mr. Ravichandran added.