COIMBATORE: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has begun talks with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to take over the 28km-long Neelambur bypass road in Coimbatore five years before the existing maintenance contract comes to an end. Tamil Nadu government’s National Highways wing hopes to take over it and start the widening project as soon as the NHAI concludes the talks by paying the private company compensation.
The narrow, two-lane stretch of the Salem-Kochi highway has recorded one of the highest number of road accidents in the state, with 120 people perishing in various accidents on the stretch in 2023.
A senior official of the National Highways wing of the state highways department told TNIE that discussions with L&T include the possible termination of the agreement so the state government can take over the road.
“The government will pay an amount to the company to facilitate the takeover before the agreed period. The figure is yet to be decided. We have prepared a detailed project report for constructing a four-lane road with two service lanes on the available land, at a cost of Rs 500 crore,” the official said.
Speaking to TNIE, Coimbatore collector Kranthi Kumar Pati said, “Officials of L&T and NHAI are holding talks regarding handing over the road.
‘Govt has already acquired 45m on either side of road’
“Plans are on the anvil to carry out the widening project through the state government’s National Highways wing,” Coimbatore collector Kranthi Kumar Pati told TNIE.
The National Highway 544 has six lanes connecting Salem to Neelambur, four lanes from Walayar to Madukkarai, and six lanes for the rest of the 340km. The Neelambur bypass stretch, however, remained a 10-metre-wide two-lane road since L&T signed an agreement with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) back in 1999 for maintaining it for 30 years by collecting toll from vehicles.
With the population and number of vehicles increasing every year, the road is frequently congested, and accidents are a daily affair. The call for widening the bypass road has been growing louder for over a decade now, with the public, motorists, social activists, police personnel, local body officials and even politicians sounding off to prevent any more accidents on the stretch.
K Kathirmathiyon, secretary of the Coimbatore Consumer Cause and member of the Coimbatore Road Safety Panel, said, “The government had already acquired land and has about 45 metres on either side ready for widening the road. However, it could not begin work since the road is under the control of L&T. Earlier, L&T itself proposed to widen the road, but it was rejected as the company might extend the toll period.”