KRISHNAGIRI: The proposed Chennai-Salem greenfield highway, which is objected to by the opposition parties, is a Central government project and the State has a limited role in terms of providing compensation to people, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said.Speaking at a mass marriage ceremony hosted by former minister K P Munusamy to mark the 70th birth anniversary of late AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa on Sunday, Palaniswami clearly stated the State government’s role was only to provide compensation to people who would lose their lands to the highway project as it is Centrally-sponsored.
“The proposed highway will help boost infrastructure in the region and therefore create employment opportunities for the youth,” he said, reiterating that the vehicular growth would swell to 3.27 crore in 2022 at the time of the completion of the project, while it is at 2.57 crore now and 1.07 crore a decade ago. The expressway will also cut down fuel consumption, he said.
Coming down heavily on DMK leader Durai Murugan for his alleged remarks that the State government has okayed the project for ‘commission’, he asked, having been a minister in the DMK regime when T R Baalu was the central minister, how much amount he got as commission for projects. He also took a dig at DMK leader M K Stalin saying he is not working and his party too has arranged a similar mass wedding ceremony in Erode, copying AIADMK. TN witnessed 31,000 protests last year alone, but the AIADMK government handled them well with the support of public and party cadre, the CM said.Earlier, higher education minister K P Anbalagan welcomed him on his entry into Dharmapuri district.
CM comes to rescue of two injured in crash
While travelling from Krishnagiri to Chennai, the Chief Minister came to the rescue of two persons who met with an accident near Vadachery on the Krishnagiri-Chennai highway on Sunday. The CM happened to pass by the accident spot and coordinated the rescue operation. He sent the 108 ambulance accompanying his convoy to transport victims to the nearest hospital. In a video taken at the time of the incident, he was seen monitoring the rescue operation, coordinating with cops and partymen.