No agreements or work orders yet for Tidel Park at Pattabiram, reveals RTI

The Tidel Park project was announced by the local MLA and Minister for Tamil Development and Archaeology K Pandiarajan, who said it would be completed within 24 months.

However, Tiruvallur district secretary of the DMK, Avadi S Nasar claimed information obtained under the RTI Act (documents of which are available) revealed that while the project was inaugurated by the AIADMK ministers, the contract for the construction work has not yet been awarded and even the infrastructure details has not been finalised as yet.

“On 5/3/19, an agreement was entered into with a company for clearing the land that was identified near Pattabiram railway station. No other work order was signed by any other company so far,” Nasar told DT Next. “Funds have also not been allocated for the same. Without that, Ministers MC Sampath and K Pandiarajan went ahead and inaugurated the project, which is a clear violation and a blatant attempt to mislead the public,” he said.

He accused the Ministers of launching the project only to swing the Parliament elections in favour of the ruling party. “When the RTI information clearly said that no agreement was made on the project to any company, a board has come up with the name of a private firm and the period of the construction as 24 months,” said Nasar.

When contacted, Minister K Pandiarajan said that the Tidel Park project involved 10 different stages, three of which have been cleared. “This is just a ploy by the opposition,” he said, adding that the project would be completed as scheduled.

He claimed that all other related information regarding the project would be released soon and the entire issue would be sorted out. He added that when it is completed, the project would help thousands of youth in Tiruvallur district get jobs.

When contacted, Tiruvallur collector R Maheshwari confirmed that the request for identification of land had come to the district administration and that they had identified suitable land for the project and cleared all bottlenecks. “We have not been approached for anything more as of now,” she said.