SALEM: While the AIADMK top leadership has been treading cautiously on the eight-lane Chennai-Salem Greenfield Expressway in the election season, considering the agitations witnessed earlier over the issue, senior BJP leader and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said the project would be completed within stipulated time. He made the statement at a rally in Salem.
Earlier last week, a division bench of the Madras High Court quashed land acquisition for the Rs 10,000 crore project, saying environment clearance was mandatory. While Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami sidestepped controversy by saying he was “bound to implement the HC order,” his ally and PMK chief S Ramadoss welcomed the order and Chief Minister’s response.
Speaking on Sunday, Gadkari said: “We will begin the project after discussions with farmers (who are against land acquisition). I assure you, whatever rates are being offered for your land, it’s more (than the value). We have increased the rates as per today’s value. The project is crucial for development of the region.”
The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Palaniswami and other senior AIADMK leaders. Speaking later, Palaniswami lashed out at Stalin for saying the CM’s political career would end after this elections.
“These elections are a new beginning. Edappadi Palaniswami’s political career will only begin after these elections,” Palaniswami thundered.
S Ramadoss — whose son and MP candidate Anbumani Ramadoss is a petitioner in the case against the Chennai-Salem Expressway in the High Court — was also present at the meeting.
He thanked Gadkari for his efforts in setting up the Cauvery Management Board and expressed hope that Centre will also implement the Godavari-Cauvery linking project.
“If done, Tamil Nadu will get an additional 200 TMC of water,” Ramadoss said.