The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Elevated bypass along Santhome proposed

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Friday, Mar 09, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Elevated bypass along Santhome proposed

R.K.Radhakrishnan

Chief Secretary takes familiarisation trip along shoreline

FULL STEAM AHEAD: Coast Guard Eastern region commander Rajendra Singh (left) and Chief Secretary L.K. Tripathy, on board a hovercraft in Chennai on Thursday. — PHOTO: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI : The State Government is proposing to build an elevated bypass along the Santhome-Greenways Road stretch to decongest Santhome High Road.

"The conceptualisation stage is over. Now we are at the project proposal stage," Chief Secretary L.K. Tripathy said as he took a hovercraft ride along the shoreline Thursday morning.

It was part of a familiarisation visit organised by the Coast Guard.

During the hour-long ride, Mr. Tripathy and Public Secretary S. Audiseshiah travelled along the coastline from north of the Chennai Port to Besant Nagar. Mr. Tripathy, highlighting aspects of the Marina improvement plan, said the agencies involved were working to implement the plan quickly. There was no reason for the coastal fishermen to fear any displacement, he said.

Any development would also have to help the local population, he added. Coast Guard officials, led by Eastern region Commander Rajendra Singh, used the visit to highlight their role with specific reference to Tamil Nadu.

The importance of shallow water capability during a sustained chase and amphibious landing craft was explained to the officials. The hovercraft did not have proper landing facilities in Chennai, the headquarters of the eastern region, from Kanyakumari to Kolkata.

Also, the Coast Guard was the Indian Ocean search-and-rescue region coordinator and had an area of responsibility extending to the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The Coast Guard, which plans to establish its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Chennai, wants vacant land near its regional headquarters to build the MRCC base from where ships in the Indian SAR region will be tracked.

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