The Tamil Nadu government is to take steps to better the road connectivity to forest dwellers within various reserve forest areas and on their fringes across the State to reach main towns or roads. The State Forest Department through its Forest Engineering Division, headquartered in Tiruchi, has improved several black topped roads in the state.    

The roads were in a bad shape in different locations. The government had improved and black topped ‘kucha’ roads, all falling within the reserve forest areas in various districts. The State government has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for the purpose. The Forest Engineering Division improved existing roads to 180 km in various locations covering 11 districts during the 2012-13 fiscal.    

In Tiruchi, Dindigul, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Vellore, Theni, and Tiruvannamalai districts, the road improvement works were carried out in 25 chosen stretches. In Tiruchi district, the works were completed on two stretches atop the scenic Pachamalai hills, part of the Eastern Ghats.  Existing roads between Sobanapuram and Top Sengattupatti (10 km) and from Moolakadu to Sembulichanpatti (13.1 km) were improved with black topping, say the department officials.