Traffic chaos, long darshan waits and civic woes dominate TN's Tiruchendur poll narrative

THOOTHUKUDI: C Venkatesh, a tourist car driver who operates between Tiruchendur and Thoothukudi, starts every trip with a prayer, hoping for traffic free road, as any hold up on the narrow road reduces the journey to a slow crawl.

Traffic snarls begin nearly 20 km ahead of the temple town, at Authoor, where the bottleneck is further aggravated by the Arumuganeri railway gate that is closed at least 14 times a day. The road is so narrow that two cars can barely pass each other. Whenever a bus or truck approaches from the opposite direction, one vehicle is often forced to get off the road and into the banana farms that dot the stretch.

Amid the traffic gridlock which leaves locals and tourists frustrated, the sitting MLA Anitha R Radhakrishnan of the DMK is seeking re-election for a seventh term even as the issues remain largely unaddressed. Residents say the road must either be widened or a new bypass constructed around villages like Authoor and Arumuganeri to improve access to the Tiruchendur Murugan temple.

Over the years, successive DMK and AIADMK governments have failed to widen this crucial road. Despite the Tiruchendur temple hosting five major festivals in a year that draw several thousands of people from across the state, traffic and crowd management remains a struggle for police.

"Traffic worsens during festivals and poses a risk to road users. My daughter, who studies at a nearby private school, struggles to cross the road and reach home," says G Anandhakumar, a resident.