Accident-prone Othakadai in dire need of speed breakers
A three-road intersection on Melur Road has become a black spot; 20 accidents, mostly involving two-wheelers, have occured in the past four months of this year alone, say residents who decry apathy shown by authorities concerned
Athree-road intersection at Y. Othakadai on Melur Road in Madurai has become an accident-prone spot. Though many mishaps - 20 accidents in the past four months of this year alone - mostly involving two-wheelers, have occurred at this spot, no action has been taken by the police till date, say Othakadai residents.
Vehicles coming from Bharathi Nagar take a free left turn towards Agriculture College and Melur. But those going towards High Court Bench and the city need to take a right turn at this junction. They have to take a perilous turn as speeding vehicles coming from Madurai have no idea about this junction and do not slow down. Moreover, due to encroachments and haphazard parking of twowheelers in front of shops, two-wheeler riders coming out of Bharathi Nagar have no clear vision of vehicles coming from the cityside. So, they take chances to cross the road, leading to accidents.
P. Mohanraj, a shopkeeper, says the speeding vehicles from the cityside dash into the vehicles coming out of Bharathi Nagar to cross the road. Footage from a CCTV installed in front of his shop shows many ghastly accidents where two-wheelers collide violently or the riders get thrown on road in the impact or get dragged along with the bike after falling down due to a collision with another vehicle.
Though there was no fatality, these were serious accidents warranting corrective steps by the authorities, Mr. Mohanraj says.
“Since the time the CCTV was installed, eight accidents have occurred in the last two months alone,” Mr. Mohanraj says. “Even on Tuesday night, a resident was badly hurt in an accident at this spot,” he says.
The prime reason is that vehicles coming from Madurai
have no way of noticing the Bharathi Nagar junction. So they have no reason to slow down. Another reason is that riders from Bharathi Nagar who want to cross the highway have no clear vision of vehicles coming from Madurai side due to encroachments and haphazard parking of vehicles. After taking risk and crossing half the road till the median, chances are they will be hit by vehicles coming from Melur side. The CCTV footage shows accidents on either side of the median .
One of the residents says they sought speed breakers in Othakadai one ahead of the tri-junction where Bharathi Nagar branches o and another one ahead of the the nearby Tirumoghur Road junction on the other side. “Though we made representations to the district administration and National Highways, they ruled out speed breakers saying Melur Road is after all a highway,” he says.
But one can see speed breakers at Uthangudi, High Court and Agricultural College, he says.
Another option is closing the gap at this junction so that vehicles need to take a free left turn and take a ‘U’ turn to go towards the city. But this will force bikers from Bharathi Nagar to move along the wrong side of the road to join the next junction at Narasingam Road, which would also lead to accidents,” he says.
So, speed breakers are the only plausible option to resolve the issue, the residents feel.