CHENNAI: The expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has recommended coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearance 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 has cleared the deck for the much-delayed project. “We will soon receive a letter from the Union Environment Ministry on the CRZ approval,” said a National Highway Authority of India official.
The tenders for the construction of a two-tier, four-lane elevated corridor between the port and Maduravoyal under the Prime Minister Gati Shakti programme were called in July, but the bids could not be finalised as the project was awaiting coastal regulation zone clearance and approval from Indian Railways. An NHAI official said bids will be finalised soon as the railways’ approval has also been accorded.
Initially, the project, which was a single deck, was given CRZ clearance on September 23, 2020, but later it was changed to a double-decker project and hence a fresh clearance was required.
According to sources, the EAC has put forth seven conditions which are: construction of the pier in areas crossing rivers to be undertaken in consultation with PWD, ban on extraction of groundwater during construction, pillar and pile caps should not affect the flow of water in the creek during floods and normal conditions, no excavated materials shall be dumped in waterbodies, removal of temporary structures raised for construction, intertidal area and creek within one month of the construction and flow of natural tidal water to mangroves should remain unaffected and follow the conditions stipulated by Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority. The elevated corridor will have a total of 604 piers, including 375 piers within the Cooum river and 210 falls in the CRZ area.
Of the 20.5-km stretch, the double-decker corridor will be limited to 14 km, from Maduravoyal to Napier Bridge. The elevated corridor will have the capacity to handle 40,000 passenger car units a day. This when converted into trailers (six car units are equal to one trailer) will be 6,500 units a day.