Crater disrupts traffic at Madurai’s Yanaikkal junction

Madurai: For five months, the biggest obstacle at Yanaikkal junction has not been traffic volume or reckless motorists. It has been a crater nearly five metres wide on one of the Madurai’s busiest roads across the Vaigai. The damaged stretch forces vehicles to slow down and weave around it to avoid damage.

At the junction, vehicles coming from Simmakkal and taking the left to get on the Yanaikkal bridge to cross the Vaigai have to deal with a broken patch of road in the middle of the junction.

A Abraham, a regular commuter on that road said, “The rest of the Simmakkal road is relatively good, easing traffic flow. The pothole at the turning surprises new commuters on the road, leading to sudden deviations. Especially during peak hours, this can be a serious issue for other vehicles. The pothole also poses an additional risk for vehicles at night or during the rainy days.

A shopowner at the junction said the pothole raises a lot of dust, especially during peak hours. “Thousands of vehicles use this stretch daily and the dust raised by vehicles leads to coughing and breathing issues to the elderly and children,” he said.

A senior corporation official said doing patchwork at the junction will be difficult owing to the sheer volume of vehicles on that busy stretch of the road. “We are studying ways to repair the potholes in the area,” the official said.