The Subramaniya Swamy Temple at Marudhamalai in Coimbatore sees steady growth in devotees with increasing demand for crowd regulation and transport.

Weekends and auspicious days show marked visitor increases. Over 20,000 people visited on a recent Sunday for Aadi Perukku.

Current issues:

• Crowded stairways even early morning
• Confusing queue system near sanctum, difficult for elderly
• Bus service delays of up to 40 minutes to hilltop
• No seating for those waiting in queues
• No toilets at foothills where devotees wait
• Vehicles stopped 500 metres before foothill, diverted to temporary parking

Parking constraints: only 40 cars and 100 two-wheelers can be parked; vehicles prohibited uphill due to space constraints and development work occupying earlier parking area.

Bus operations: three buses deployed Tuesdays and weekends, plus two operated by temple board.

Planned improvements: master plan under preparation includes dedicated parking area, bus stand for temple buses, and basic amenities at foothills. Seating arrangements during wait hours being considered.

The Madras High Court on Jan. 30 directed the Highways Department not to fell roadside trees along the Vadavalli–Marudhamalai Road widening stretch. Justices N Sathish Kumar and T Bharatha Chakravarthy issued the order while hearing activist S Muralidharan’s petition.

Muralidharan said the project could affect 19 banyan, nine peepal, 107 palmyra and nearly 100 other native trees that provide habitat for birds, owls, small mammals and nocturnal wildlife. He urged limiting widening to Swamy Ayyappan Temple on Marudhamalai Road.

The Highways Department said land acquisition by the Revenue Department was underway after government approval to convert the two-lane road from Vadavalli to Government Law College into a four-lane road, and that work could not be abandoned after acquisition. An official said trees were being felled for development, with 10 replacement trees to be planted for each tree, and that the department planned to approach the court.

Osai petitioned the Chief Minister’s Special Cell, Chief Secretary, State Highways Department and Coimbatore District Collector to limit proposed widening of Marudhamalai Road (SH 167). It said the four-lane stretch from Vadavalli to the Marudhamalai foothills would require cutting 19 banyan, nine peepal, 107 palmyra and nearly 100 other native trees. The tree belt provides habitat and an ecological corridor for birds, owls, small mammals and nocturnal wildlife.

The petition said concrete dividers could block wildlife movement, pushing deer, elephants and other animals towards residential areas and increasing human–wildlife conflict. With four-wheel vehicles allowed to reach Marudhamalai temple four days a week and parking at the foothills, widening without ecological safeguards could worsen congestion and fragment wildlife movement.

Osai proposed limiting widening to Swamy Ayyappan Temple, where land is marked for the Western Ring Road (Western bypass) link. It said widening beyond that point would cause environmental harm without improving traffic efficiency. The petition was submitted by treasurer N. Senthil Kumar, organiser G. Ramesh, and members R. Parthiban, B. Pradeep and D. Jagadeesh.

Somayampalayam village panchayat has signed an MoU with Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) for waste management at ₹9 lakh per month. CCMC has collected around 12 tonnes of waste from the panchayat since August 2025 and has instructed it to hand over only segregated waste. Somayampalayam is the only village panchayat covered by the arrangement, following a recommendation by Coimbatore Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar in May.

The panchayat spent ₹23 lakh on a steel-wire fence at its dump yard in the foothills of Marudhamalai to keep out wild animals, particularly elephants. Designed by a scientist from Hosur in Krishnagiri district, it uses steel-bearing construction, steel-wire ropes and steel poles, and can rise up to 12 feet. A trench was already present, but the dump yard continued to attract wildlife.