The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Projects' fate tied to defence land

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 05, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Projects' fate tied to defence land

K. Manikandan

Chief Minister Karunanidhi's New Delhi visit raises hopes

HELD UP: Work on Meenambakkam subway has come to a halt due to the delay in acquiring land belonging to the Defence Ministry. — Photo : A. Muralitharan

TAMBARAM: The fate of three crucial development projects in the southern suburbs hinges on the Ministry of Defence parting with land necessary for the work.

The Meenambakkam subway, a segment of the southern sector of the Inner Ring Road project and a Road Over Bridge at Pallavaram require portions of land belonging to the Ministry of Defence.

Residents and activists in the suburbs said the prolonged delay was causing severe problems . and hoped that when Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi visits New Delhi , seeking land from the Defence Ministry and the subsequent handing over of an equal amount of land from the State to the Central government would be on his agenda.

The State Highways Department, which is implementing the schemes, requires about 4.23 acres for the projects. When the Highways Minister M.P. Saminathan inspected a couple of these projects a week ago, he announced that the reason for the delay was acquiring land from the public and also from the Defence Ministry and that the process of land acquisition would be speeded up.

Official sources said in order to compensate for the land that the Highways Department needed , alternative land that had to be given back to the Centre was identified. Work on the Meenambakkam subway stopped soon after the Southern Railway completed its part of the task . The same is the case with a small segment of the southern sector of the Inner Ring Road project. The Inner Ring Road connects Tiruvanmiyur with Manali and both the central and northern sectors have been completed. All that the Highways Department needed to complete the project was 1,950 square metres of vacant land belonging to the Defence Ministry at Alandur.

About 75 per cent of work on the Road Over Bridge to replace the level crossing between Pallavaram and Tirusulam (LC No. 24) has been completed, but the remaining workcan be completed only after the Highways Department acquires a portion of land belonging to the Defence Ministry. Now that the DMK heads the government in Tamil Nadu and is an ally of the ruling front at the Centre, acquiring land for these important projects would no longer be a problem, residents hoped, adding that the process should be expedited and the pending work completed without further delay.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail