CHENNAI: Highways Minister Aadhav Arjuna on Thursday informed the House that the union government has assured Rs 2 lakh crore worth of highway projects for Tamil Nadu, if the state extends its cooperation. He said the central road fund allocation has been increased from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore. The centre has also increased the road safety fund from Rs 300 crore to Rs 600 crore, the minister added.
Responding to a question raised by AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami on vehicular congestion on the Chennai-Tiruchy National Highway during question hour, Arjuna said the state had already requested the NHAI to prepare a detailed project report for widening the Chennai-Kanniyakumari section of the GST road to eight lanes.
“Not only the entry into Chennai from Chengalpattu, but also other entry routes from Poonamallee and Tiruvallur need to be improved to ease congestion,” he added.
Responding to MLA S Regupathy on the traffic congestion in Pudukkottai due to the absence of ROBs at three level crossings, Arjuna said the construction of ROBs would be accorded priority.
He further said his department has received representations from 173 MLAs seeking various works in their constituencies. “Most of these requests are related to ROBs and ring road projects. We will accord top priority to fulfilling these requests,” Arjuna stated.
Question Hour begins
Chennai: Question hour for the 17th TN Assembly began on Thursday with Minister Aadhav Arjuna taking the first question from Katpadi MLA on building a high-level bridge from Katpadi railway station to Palar bridge.
The minister said the government will take steps to prepare DPR for the bridge. He said a 20.50-km four-lane bypass for Vellore had also been planned as part of Villupuram-Mangalore road widening.
Though only five questions were taken, the question hour lasted for one and a half hours since Speaker allowed supplementary questions from members of all parties.