Residents’ welfare organisations of Kattur and Ariyamangalam in the city, who were fighting for the formation of service lanes for several years, have strongly opposed the move to reduce the width of the service lanes to be built between Palpannai and Thuvakudi along Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway.They have urged the government to go by the 2019 directive of the Madurai Bench of the High Court on the issue.Speaking to reporters here, S. Sakthivel, chief organiser, Federation for Retrieval of Tiruchi Palpannai-Thuvakudi Service Road, said it was understood that the State Highways Department, which agreed to build the service lanes with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) funding, had planned to reduce the width of the service lanes to 33 metres. The width should be 60 metres as per the original plan of NHAI. However, it was reduced to 45 metres subsequently by the State government, which had to acquire land for the project.The High Court, in 2019, had accepted the opinion of the Chief Engineer, Construction and Maintenance, State Highways Department, that the width of service lanes could be 45 metres on normal stretches and ordered expeditious steps to build the service lanes. The residents’ welfare organisations had strongly opposed the move to reduce the width to 33 meters when it was attempted during the previous DMK government. However, the officials decided to go ahead with the move to reduce the width even after the TVK government assumed office in the State.“We cannot accept the move to reduce the width. It will not solve the issue, and it will complicate it as we need sufficient space to build five vehicle underpasses and 10 bus stops,” said Mr. Sakthivel.He said the authorities should stop pursuing the idea and the district administration should take up land acquisition expeditiously and build the service lanes as per the High Court’s 2019 order. Published - July 25, 2026 08:14 pm IST