CHENNAI: The 9.3km-long Tambaram eastern bypass project, aimed at easing traffic congestion in the Tambaram region, has hit a roadblock due to delays in land transfer proposals between the revenue and forest departments.
The bypass begins at Madambakkam junction on Irumbuliyur Road near the Maraimalai Adigal bridge and ends at GST Road in Perungalathur.
The project was taken up in phases, and the stretch from Madambakkam up to the Vandalur forest area has already been completed as a six-lane road. However, the remaining 0.78 km stretch falls within reserve forest areas near Vandalur and Nedungundram. The Highways department had applied to the Forest department on August 21, 2023, seeking permission to proceed with the work.
Officials said around 4.46 hectares of forest land is required for the project. As per regulations, compensatory afforestation land has to be provided to the Forest department. A proposal was sent to the Chengalpattu district administration on June 3, 2022, seeking identification and allotment of alternative land.
Initially, the district administration recommended that double the extent of land be provided as compensatory land to the Forest department. Stage-I clearance for diversion of the forest land was obtained on August 27, 2024, and an application for Stage-II approval was later submitted through the Parivesh portal.
Subsequently, based on guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, on November 29, 2023, the Chengalpattu Collector on September 5 last year recommended that compensatory afforestation land equivalent to the forest land being diverted could be provided instead of double the extent.
Following this, the Highways department on September 9, 2025, wrote to the district forest officer, Chennai division, seeking correction in the Parivesh portal where the diversion had been recorded as double the extent — 8.92 hectares — instead of 4.46 hectares.
In its communication, the department said the correction had been applied through ‘H’ Form in the portal and requested that 4.46 hectares of non-forest land in Vedhanarayanapuram village in Chengalpattu, in survey numbers 96/1 and 96/4, be accepted as compensatory land. Officials also pointed out that the work for forming the bypass between km 8.080 and km 8.775 had already been tendered but could not be taken up due to pending approvals.
Sources in the Highways department said fresh proposals from the district administration were yet to be sent to the commissioner of land administration and continue to remain pending. Proposals relating to transfer of forest land to the Highways department and the corresponding transfer of revenue land to the Forest department have also not progressed in the Chengalpattu revenue department.
Sources said that due to the delay in the transfer of the land, the contractor will seek compensation from the Highways department for the cost escalation.
The delay has stalled completion of the final stretch of the bypass, forcing motorists to continue using congested routes in the Tambaram area.