CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 26 will lay the foundation stone for the 20.6 km double-decker elevated highway between Chennai Port and Maduravoyal to be built at a cost of Rs 5,855 crore. This is the second time a PM will be laying a foundation stone for the project, which has been revived as a double decker after a decade.
On Monday, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Tamil Nadu government, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Chennai Port Trust and the Indian Navy for construction of the elevated expressway in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin at the Secretariat. The tenders for the project, which comes under the ‘Gati Shakti’ initiative, are likely to be floated in July.
On the double-decker elevated highway, only local vehicles may travel on the first deck from Chennai Port to Koyambedu. On the second deck, only heavy vehicles will be allowed to travel from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal on either side.
The project will have climbing and descending ramps at 13 places (seven entries and six exits). The elevated corridor will have a capacity to handle 40,000 passenger car units a day. When converted into trailers (six car units is equal to one trailer), this will be 6,500 units a day.
Project suspended in 2012 due to WRD-NHAI row
The project is aimed at quick and continuous dispersal of freight into and out of the Chennai Port to other parts of the country. The project was first planned during then CM M Karunanidhi’s tenure as an elevated corridor between Maduravoyal and the Port to be built at a cost of Rs 1,800 with then PM Manmohan Singh laying the foundation stone for it in January 2009.
At the time, spanning a length of 19 km, it was the longest elevated corridor project in the country. The project was suspended in 2012 due to a row between the State Water Resources Department (WRD) and NHAI during the AIADMK regime of then CM J Jayalalitha.
The project was also opposed after 12,000 families, especially slum dwellers, had to be rehabilitated by providing alternative shelter. In 2015, then Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gandkari sought to break the deadlock over the stalled project and has been working on a out-of-court settlement since 2016.
After an initial Detailed Project Report was submitted in 2019 to revive the project, Gadkari, presently Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, asked Larsen & Toubro to redesign the project as a double-decker elevated corridor.
Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highway, General (Retd) VK Singh, Public Works department Minister EV Velu, Chief Secretary Irai Anbu, and other officials were also present during the signing of the MoU on Monday.
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PROJECT REVIVAL