Employees of Golden Rock Railway Workshop and commuters of various residential colonies situated around it in Tiruchi are put to severe hardship due to deplorable condition of the roads.
Hundreds of people reside in areas such as Melakalkandarkottai, Railway Colony, Ponmalaipatti, Ambikapuram, Ex-servicemen Colony, Subramaniapuram, and others. They have to travel on the roads around the Railway Colony that extends for about 400 hectares owned by the Indian Railways.
In addition to the people who reside in Melakalkandarkottai, Ponmalaipatti, and other peripheries of the Railway Colony, the employees of Golden Rock Railway Workshop and the passengers visiting the Golden Rock Railway Station use these roads.
The roads, well connected with the staff quarters of Golden Rock Workshop, railway station, railway hospital, and others, are in a bad condition, making it difficult even for two-wheeler riders.
Except for a few roads like Subramaniapuram (Velan Hospital) to Ponmalaipatti, the rest are under the purview of the Tiruchi Railway Division.
According to the locals, except for a few, most roads were laid more than 10 years to 15 years ago. No proper maintenance and repair work had been taken up for long. “The roads, located in Tiruchi city, resemble unattended decade old village roads. They are really challenging to commute and back breaking,” says K.C. Neelamegam, an activist in Golden Rock. In the rainy season, the roads would be waterlogged, muddy and slippery, making it a nightmare for drivers.
An employee of the Golden Rock Workshop said the issue had been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned in the railway division on several occasions, but action had not been taken. Similarly, the State Highways and the Tiruchi Corporation should relay the roads under their purview around the peripheries of the Railway Colony, the locals demanded.
