CHENNAI: After nearly 15 years, the 30-km stretch of the former Ennore-Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP) may be completed with the eviction of 446 families in the Nalla Thanner Odai Kuppam along the coastal road.
Nearly 99 per cent of the Rs 600-crore project, which was conceived in 1998 that links four roads – Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti (TPP) sector, Ennore Expressway, Manali Oil Refinery Road and northern portions of inner ring road from Madhavaram to Manali – has been completed and the only hurdle was the acquisition of the slum land. The special purpose vehicle for the project was formed in 2003.
It seems the Slum Clearance Board is working out a proposal worth `31.68 crore to build 352 tenements for families in 2.28 acres of land belonging to Thiagarajaswamy temple in Tiruvottiyur adopting stilt-plus-four pattern of development. Similarly, the remaining families will be accommodated in tenements in All India Radio land in North Chennai wherein 416 tenements are nearing completion.
The Thiagarajaswamy temple land has to be handed over by Thiruvallur Collector to the Slum Clearance Board to build the tenements. Sources told Express that the State government is seeking funds from the Chennai Port to build the tenements. It is learnt that bio-metric survey of slum families in NTO Kuppam is in progress.
The project road network of 30.1 km covers Ennore Expressway (5.9 km), Thiruvottiur Ponneri Pancheti Road (9 km), Manali Oil Refinery Road (5.4 km), Northern segment of Inner Ring Road (8.1 km) and Inside Fishing Harbour Road (1.6 km). It starts from Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) zero gate and ends at Kamarajar Port.
