‘Opposition to expressway baseless’

“The views expressed by various persons against the project are without any basis.

Land for the purpose is being acquired from farmers only with their consent,” he told reporters here.

Udhayakumar said a survey had been carried out for the project and officials were taking into account minute details of the land of each affected farmer, like the type of crop grown and the number of trees on the land. The Minister was at SP Natham area here for laying the foundation stone for local road projects.

The Salem-Chennai Expressway, which seeks to build a 277 km long eight-lane highway, has come in for opposition from some quarters on the ground that farm and forest lands would be affected.