Faulty traffic signals at Mannarpuram face people’s ire

Trichy: Coming hard on the authorities, commuters and activists blamed malfunctioning traffic signals at the Mannarpuram intersection as the cause for traffic chaos and a rise in accidents there.

They sought repair or replacement of the signals at the earliest.Mannarpuram is one of the city’s busiest junctions, connecting National Highway 83, Madurai Main Road, and Race Course Road in key areas including Karumandapam, KK Nagar, Khajamalai, and TVS Tollgate. Though designed as a roundabout, the junction depends on functional traffic signals for orderly movement.Residents complain that the signals have been unreliable and frequently out of order for several months.

K Janardhanan, a 69-year-old resident of Bheema Nagar, said, “Vehicles are moving in both directions without any order, leading to frequent accidents. The traffic signals must be repaired immediately to make the junction accident-free.”The problem has intensified since the Kalaignar Karunanidhi Integrated Bus Terminus was inaugurated in Panjapur last year. Many passengers now alight at Mannarpuram and jaywalk across the busy road to catch connecting buses to Central bus stand, further worsening safety concerns due to inadequate traffic regulation.

Residents also rued that the junction was left out in the recent upgradation of traffic infrastructure at several locations including near Cantonment and the airport at ₹1.6 crore.A senior police official said defunct and dysfunctional traffic signals across the city, including at Mannarpuram, would be replaced depending on the availability of funding in coming days.