The 3.7-km stretch connecting KNG Pudur and Subramaniyampalayam, a key state highway linking the Thadagam-Anaikatti state highway with the Nagapattinam-Gundlupet national highway (Mettupalayam Road), has become non-motorable after unseasonal summer showers.

The road degraded due to incomplete underground drainage (UGD) works being executed by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board on behalf of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC). The TWAD Board reportedly failed to properly restore the road surface after laying pipelines, creating a sludge-filled, muddy condition.

The stretch poses increased accident risks. Several minor mishaps were reported over the past week. Residents and motorists called for better inter-agency coordination, noting that sequential work by different government agencies causes repeated disruption.

CCMC officials cited coordination delays: road-laying works cannot proceed until TWAD completes its work and issues a no-objection certificate (NOC). Some pipelines installed under the AMRUT Scheme were left unattended for long periods.

CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran announced a scheduled meeting with TWAD Board officials to discuss water supply and UGD works across the city and address the road issues.

Farmers at a district grievances meeting urged completion of Sanganur canal strengthening work passing 11 km through Coimbatore before linking 118 streams in Thadagam valley. They raised concerns about uncontrolled brick kiln operations in Thadagam valley affecting rain-fed seasonal streams feeding the canal.

A drone survey is planned for preparation of a Detailed Project Report for reviving the 118 streams. Officials from Water Resources Department and Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation were present.

Farmers requested expedited relocation of people displaced from canal embankments through Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board schemes.

Water quality studies show physio-chemical contamination in the canal from household and industrial wastewater. Groundwater samples from bore wells near the drain showed poor parameters including pH, EC, TDS, chlorides, sulphates, alkalinity and hardness. Farmers called for sewage treatment plants along the canal within city limits.

The ₹49 crore canal strengthening work funded by Infrastructure and Amenities Fund is progressing slowly. Phase two of 1 km will cost ₹30.3 crore.

Work scope includes gabion walls, chip stone channel bed, reinforced concrete embankment walls, pedestrian pathways and roads on one side. A biometric survey of encroachments is underway. Farmers called for canal widening to handle flow from the planned 118-stream revival project.