Villagers laying siege to the Collectorate in Dindigul on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: KARTHIKEYAN G

Hundreds of people from Pithalaipatti in Dindigul district on Thursday staged a protest at the Collectorate demanding the road stretch at Pithalaipatti on the Dindigul-Kumuli Highway be converted into a four-lane road.

The people who were mostly farmers also demanded the construction of a flyover. They said that they have been demanding the four-lane road and the flyover for over a decade. However, their demands had not been met, they said.

They said that the road stretch along Pithalaipatti and nearby areas were two-lane roads. The farmers were cultivating vegetables and flowers. They used these roads to transport the vegetables and flowers to Dindigul and Oddanchathiram.

The people said that there was a need for a bigger road as number of office, school and college goers were increasing everyday. Also, tourists used this stretch to travel to Kodaikanal and Kerala. With the busy road not being converted to a four-lane road to accommodate more vehicles, the stretch had become accident prone, they said.

The people said that in order to prevent accidents along the stretch, the road should be converted into a four-lane road. The residents had come to the Collectorate to submit their petition in this regard to the Collector.

However, they were unable to meet the Collector and hand over the petition as the Collector was out on some work. Therefore, they staged a protest at the Collectorate. The police and other officials told the residents that their request would be looked into. Following the talks, the residents submitted their petition to the officials who were present at the Collectorate.