Coimbatore Roads Dug Without Plan, Weekend Traffic Crumbles In Ram Nagar

A weekend of chaos unfolded in Coimbatore’s Ram Nagar as poorly coordinated road-digging works brought traffic to a standstill. Multiple roads, dug simultaneously for underground drainage upgrades, paralysed key city arteries. With no prior alerts or diversions in place, residents and commuters were left fuming in bumper-to-bumper gridlock for hours. The situation exposed glaring lapses in civic planning, causing significant distress to local businesses, emergency response units, and everyday movement within one of the city’s busiest commercial areas.

Motorists, many stuck for over half an hour in stretches that typically take five minutes to traverse, criticised the authorities for their lack of foresight. Local residents voiced growing frustration at how development works, though necessary, continue to be implemented without community consultation or contingency planning. Shopkeepers in the busy Ram Nagar commercial zone also reported a steep drop in footfall, with deliveries and customers unable to navigate the bottlenecks. Compounding the frustration was the alarming impact on emergency response vehicles. Ambulances and fire services were reportedly delayed or rerouted due to the blocked roads, raising questions about civic preparedness for unforeseen medical or safety needs during such infrastructure interventions.

City officials responded by stating that the UGD project would be completed within the coming days, and that road restoration efforts would be promptly initiated. However, this assurance has done little to placate citizens, who have demanded an audit of planning procedures and greater accountability. In the wake of the disruption, urban mobility experts have called for a city-wide infrastructure calendar to streamline future civic works. They stress that Coimbatore, which is positioning itself as a key tier-2 smart city, cannot afford ad hoc urban planning that undermines public confidence and safety. Incorporating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for utility mapping and ensuring inter-departmental collaboration are seen as essential steps to prevent such operational chaos. Residents continue to urge authorities to learn from this incident and build a more resilient and responsive urban governance framework.

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Coimbatore Roads Dug Without Plan, Weekend Traffic Crumbles In Ram Nagar