NGO raises concerns over proposal to widen Vadavalli – Marudhamalai Road

Coimbatore-based Osai environmental organisation has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to limit the proposed widening of Marudhamalai Road (SH 167).

In a petition submitted to the Chief Minister’s Special Cell, Chief Secretary, State Highways Department and Coimbatore District Collector, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) has raised the destruction of decades-old roadside trees as a key concern.

According to the NGO, the proposed widening will necessarily involve cutting of 19 banyan trees, nine peepal trees, 107 palmyra trees and nearly 100 other native tree species. These trees, which were planted long ago as part of roadside greening efforts, today form an important micro-habitat for birds, owl species, small mammals and various nocturnal wildlife. Many of these species roost, nest, and breed in this tree belt, which functions as a continuous ecological corridor, the NGO stated.

The petition stated that the four-lane expansion of the road from Vadavalli to the Marudhamalai foothills would require installation of concrete road dividers that block natural movement of wildlife, eventually forcing deer, elephants and other animals to enter residential areas and escalating human–wildlife conflict around Marudhamalai foothills.

As entry of four-wheel vehicles to Marudhamalai temple is allowed four days in a week, vehicles are parked at the foothills. If the road is widened without ecological considerations, traffic congestion and fragmentation of wildlife movement will worsen simultaneously, the petition said.

The NGO wanted widening of the road to be limited upto Swamy Ayyappan Temple on Marudhamalai Road, where an area has been marked for the linking of the Western Ring Road (Western bypass). Beyond this point, widening the road would cause extensive environmental harm without improving traffic efficiency, stated the petition submitted by Osai treasurer N. Senthil Kumar, organiser G. Ramesh, and members R. Parthiban, B. Pradeep and D. Jagadeesh.