Assuring residents of Ambur that completion of two proposed underpasses on National Highway-46 would help greatly reduce accidents within the town, Vellore MP Abdul Rahman declared that work on the project would begin in a couple of weeks and be completed by next February.
He was speaking at a function organized by local associations, service organizations and other groups on Monday held to felicitate him for expediting highway expansion works.
Rahman said he had made representations for work on the two underpasses in Parliament over six times besides meeting officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) personally. The NHAI had come up with a plan to expand the National Highway (NH)-46 to six lanes and reduce road accidents by constructing two underpasses along the 1.5 km stretch within the town limit.
Furthermore, the MP said land varying from 0.5 metres to 5 metres for the expansion work would be acquired from area residents. Steps would also be taken to help landowners to get adequate compensation for the lands.
G Vasu Venkatesan of Ambur MC Road Land Owners Association said initially highway officials had acquired 6 metres of land for the four-laning expansion and now after the MP’s intervention, the land acquisition for the six-laning had been restricted to 0.5 to 5 metres.