Tamil Nadu government has said that it will take steps to expedite the Maduravoyal to Chennai Port elevated road project .This was announced by Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit in his address to the legislative assembly while outlining the newly elected DMK regime’s policy.
The announcement was welcomed by Chennai Port Chairman P Raveendran, who told that he wanted the project to be implemented at the earliest. “I am requesting the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to take up the work at the earliest,” he said.
NHAI officials, said the bids are likely to be invited by September. It is learnt that the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal Expressway project is being redesigned by Larsen and Toubro and the project is likely to have two flyovers. NHAI officials said the redesigning work is still going on.
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and MSME, had rejected the initial design as he had suggested the project could be made a expressway which has two flyovers. This will also reduce traffic congestion in Chennai, the Union minister stated.
This comes as the detailed project report for the 20.3 km Maduravoyal-Chennai Port elevated corridor project was made ready. The project has been stalled for the last eight years as a fresh alignment was worked out after the state government raised objections over the earlier alignment.
The Rs 1,800 crore Maduravoyal-Chennai Port elevated corridor was implemented during former chief minister M Karunanidhi’s tenure after then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the elevated road. The project was aimed at quick and continuous dispersal of freight into and out of Chennai Port to other parts of the country. Spanning a total length of 19 km it was then the longest elevated corridor project in the country.
The project was opposed as 12,000 families of the weaker sections, especially slum dwellers, were to be rehabilitated by providing alternative shelters. It was later stalled during Chief Minister J Jayalalitha’s tenure. The Water Resources Department directed the NHAI to stop work on the elevated road project stating that the pile caps constructed for the project obstructed the free flow of water in the Cooum. It was later revived after Gadkari became the shipping minister.