Port Blair, Nov 03: International Human Rights Council (IHRC), A&N Islands State Board President Mr.Murugesan has raised issues deplorable and worst hit condition of Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Andaman & Nicobar Island.
In a letter to LG he said “The present condition of the road is very pathetic and is degrading day by day, the entire road is riddled with pot holes, craters causing inconvenience to the road users and it is extremely dangerous, rains in the recent past have turned the road virtually into a death trap. Everyday hundreds of vehicles pass through ATR, motorists have a herculean task driving through the stretch, tourists from different part of India as well as foreigners comes to visit the famous tourist spots of Middle Andaman. In some of the places along side of the road, doesn’t have retaining wall or proper drainage or proper marking that shows dangerous area. There have been frequent incidence of minor accidents in the past one just can’t blame the driver alone for that, the narrow width of the road with potholes make the driver immensely difficult to manoeuvre while driving a bus with passengers or truck loads with essential commodities, sometimes while giving way to incoming vehicles the bus or truck tilt to one side as the ridge of the road has been washed away by continuous rain. There is even some cases when vehicle got breakdown due to bad road conditions, One can imagine the situation when the vehicle got breakdown on ATR especially in Jarawa reserve area it is extremely difficult and time consuming to get a mechanic in this area”.
He further added that- Proper maintenance of the ATR is a immediate necessity of this hour so it is requested on behalf of entire committers until NHIDCL starts working on its assigned task APWD may be given the task for maintenance of the said road or a coordination may be made between the said agencies to carry-out this task.
