Row over link road through Kodanad tea estate to Anna Nagar still not settled
Ooty: The issue related to a three-km stretch road that traverse through the Kodanad tea estate to Anna Nagar and Kamraj Nagar, is still not fully resolved, while the present estate management is reported to have purchased Carson estate, a near 400 acres tea estate, adjoining Kodanad estate in recent times.
When Ms. Jayalalithaa was in power during 2006-2011, often the there were agitations, supported by DMK and other parties, to throw open the estate road that connects Anna Nagar and Kamarj Nagar with Kodanad-Kotagiri road.
The residents of Anna Nagar and Kamaraj Nagar kept on insisting that the road which traverses via Gate No.4 in the Kodanad estate should be thrown open round-the-clock and the gate be removed to help them commute. But, it was denied by the estate administration.
Mr.Pon Dhous, former president of Kodanad panchayat, who led agitations on this issue, said that though there were court directions to open the road, if necessary with security arrangements to monitor the movement of the public on the road. But things failed to materialize as still members of the public are forced to take permission to commute on this road.
“When the AIADMK came back to power in May 2016, voices for round-the-clock opening of the road and removal of gate had begun to wane as the residents are afraid of fighting against the ruling dispensation,”he noted.
However, sources close to Kodanad estate said that the estate is following the prescribed norms for commuting on the said road and residents of Anna Nagar and Kamaraj Nagar have not made any complaint for the past five years.
