DPR for Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated road project soon

In its first step, the NHAI, with the help of state government, will soon acquire lands along the Cooum river where several pillars have already come up. Further, officials told DT Next they will complete Detailed Project Report (DPR) in the next couple of months, after which construction works are expected to be taken up.

According to officials, the long pending project faced many hurdles, including non-availability of environmental clearance certificate and opposition from environmentalists. The state government denied issuing environmental clearance certificate, as the route along the Cooum river was deemed to affect ecology. This led NHAI to shelve the project.

But the project is now being revived by NHAI. “We have to handle hurdles like land acquisition carefully, as we need to construct new pillars and demolish many pillars, which pass along the Cooum. We have also received communication from Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) regarding encroachment along the Cooum river and we will approach the Port officials to allot certain amount to the TNSCB to pay for rehabilitation works after removing encroachment near Cooum river,” said a senior NHAI engineer. Speaking to DT Next, Pon Radhakrishnan, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, said, “We will start land acquisition and subsequently take up works after the DPR is completed. Moreover, we have instructed concerned officials to accelerate DPR and communicate the details to the ministry.” 

When asked about any change in the estimated project cost, the minister replied everything will be known soon and that it will take at least three to four months to start construction work.