Farmers from Kovilpalayam, Annur, Pasur and surrounding areas protested outside the Special District Revenue Officer (Land Acquisition) office in Coimbatore on March 11, 2025, opposing the State government’s plan to acquire 649.88 acres for a greenfield road from Kurumbapalayam to Sathyamangalam. They raised concerns that the alignment could shrink water bodies and urged the government to stop the acquisition. The State government’s National Highways Wing issued a land-acquisition notification a week earlier.

Residents have urged the government to expedite land acquisition for converting the 8.6-km Sitra-Kurumbapalayam road from two lanes to four lanes. The stretch sees heavy traffic.

Traffic congestion on Palakkad Road worsening as Madukkarai-Marappalam railway underpass expansion work delayed over one year. Palakkad Railway Division completed nearly 50% of railway portion. State highways department road expansion facing setbacks due to land acquisition and tender process.

Project began May 2025, aims to replace narrow British-era structure with modern facility. Involves dismantling old bridge, installing new rectangular precast RCC box for railway track, widening road for approximately 750 metres including 89 metres within underpass.

Design: four-lane main carriageway 16.2 metres, 5.5 metre service roads on both sides, 1.5 metre footpaths and drainage.

Tender for road works called off; scrutiny of 14 bidders under way. Tender evaluation to complete within 30 days. Once awarded, work will take around 18 months.

Department plans to acquire 4,300 square metres of land for service roads and drainage. Notification under Section 15(2) Tamil Nadu Highways Act to be issued after negotiation with landowners.

Light vehicles and buses diverted via Quarry Office Road, Kurumbapalayam Road and Madukkarai Market Road to Chettipalayam. Heavy vehicles advised to take Athupalam-Kurichi-Eachanari route to reach Salem-Kochi highway. Diversions causing severe peak-hour congestion with Kerala-bound vehicles waiting in long queues, with reports of one-hour waits at Madukkarai Market during peak hours.

Land acquisition for the 8.6-km Sitra-Kurumbapalayam Road widening is about 35% complete, and the state highways department expects construction to begin in the next financial year, likely from April 2027. The route runs from Sitra Junction on Avinashi Road to Kurumbapalayam via Kalapatti and serves traffic towards Mettupalayam, Ooty and the Nilgiris.

The ₹51.22-crore project will provide a four-lane road with a 20-metre right of way, two 7.5-metre-wide carriageways, a central median and pedestrian footpaths. The government has earmarked ₹27 crore to acquire private land.

Landowners are disputing compensation, citing valuations of ₹1,000 and ₹155 per sq ft for different survey fields within the project area. They say officials used 2020 sale data and seek valuations based on genuine market transactions and guideline values under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act. District Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar had directed revenue and highways officials to expedite acquisition. Highways officials said discussions are under way; compensation varies with structures and whether land is barren or agricultural.

Landowners whose properties are being acquired for widening the Sitra-Kurumbapalayam road have challenged compensation fixed by the district administration. They say agricultural land was valued at about ₹153 per square foot, nearly one-ninth of the approximately ₹1,001 per square foot awarded for nearby residential land in the same survey field number. The dispute has remained unresolved since 2020.

Around 70 affected landowners, including 30 agricultural landowners, plan to submit representations to Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar and Kavundampalayam MLA Kanimozhi Santhosh. B Praburaj has petitioned the Chief Minister’s Cell for valuation statements, comparable sale deeds, calculation sheets, market-value proceedings and other assessment records.

Praburaj alleges officials failed to consider eligible sales within the 1,600-metre search area prescribed for linear acquisitions, including transactions a few hundred metres away in the same corridor, and instead used agricultural guideline values. He says this violates the 2013 land acquisition law and has caused financial losses.