CHENNAI : With automobile explosion growing denser every year, the Tamil Nadu Government has proposed to declare 21 major State highway roads that run for about 1497 km passing through Sivaganga, Madurai, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Namakkal, Thirunelveli and Erode districts as new national highways.The government policy note on highways and minor ports presented by the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in the Assembly on Monday revealed that the proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to declare the new roads as national highways in principle.
The roads to be upgraded include Thanajvur-Mannargudi - Thiruthuraipoondi - Vedaranyam - Kodiyakarai (113 km), Erode-Dharapuram (78 km), Sathi-Chithode-Erode (62 km), Chennai Outer Ring Road- Sipcot- Sriperupudur road (17 km), Namakkal-Thuraiyur (48 km), Thanajavur-Sivaganga (257 km), Vatlagundu - Usilampatti - Peraiyur - Kalligudi - Thuruchuli - Sayalkudi (161 km) and Ramanad - Nainarkoil - Ilayangudi - Sivaganga (98 km).
The move to upgrade the roads is aimed at an improved maintenance of roads and widening of roads. The roads are to be declared as national highways funded by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways department. “A proposal has been sent to declare the roads as national highways in principle. Accordingly, the proposal to widen the roads will also be taken up with the Union Ministry,” said official sources from the state highways department.
The total length of the national highway roads in Tamil Nadu is about 5,324 km, out of which 3,285-km roads are maintained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).