The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Perambur flyover project to be revived

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Perambur flyover project to be revived

Staff Reporter

Will take a look at project and resume work in a month or two: Stalin It is the only unfinished flyover of the 10 flyovers planned during the DMK regime from 1996 to 2001.

CHENNAI : Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin has said that steps will be taken to revive the Perambur flyover project that has been languishing for nearly five years now.

Speaking to mediapersons at Sir Pitti Thyagaraya Hall in T.Nagar on Tuesday, Mr.Stalin recalled that the flyover, planned during his tenure as Mayor in 1999, had been delayed due to technical reasons (when one of the pillars sank) and experts had suggested a redesign for the project. The construction work was completely stalled after the AIADMK came to power in 2001.

"They [AIADMK] even constituted a committee to look into the alleged irregularities in the construction. Though the Justice Arumugam Committee submitted its report two years ago, it has so far not been placed in the Assembly. The files are now with the investigating agency. We will evaluate the situation and take steps, including legal action, to revive the project in a month or two."

It is the only unfinished one of the 10 flyovers planned during the DMK regime from 1996 to 2001. Importantly, it is the only flyover planned for North Chennai, where traffic congestion has worsened in recent times.

"Scant regard"

Mr.Stalin charged that the AIADMK had shown scant regard for local bodies, particularly the Chennai Corporation, in the last five years. "They very fact that they amended the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 to conduct Chennai Corporation council meetings once in three months shows what respect they had for local bodies."

To a query on the previous government transferring some revenue-earning portfolio from the local bodies, he said the AIADMK government had transferred advertisement hoardings as a portfolio from the Corporation to the Chennai Collectorate and submitted only 25 per cent of the annual earnings through display tax to the local body. "The government will discuss whether to reverse some of the decisions."

Deputy Mayor R.Thiagarajan, former T.Nagar MLA J.Anbazhagan, Corporation Commissioner M.P.Vijayakumar, DMK floor leader in Corporation Council C.V.Malayan, DMK councillors P.V.Kalyanasundaram and A.K.Jagadeesan accompanied the Minister.

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