With construction of the multi-level bridge at the Aristo Junction in the city running into road blocks owing to delay in transfer of land from Defence Ministry and Railways, Tiruchi Member of Parliament P. Kumar has written to the Defence Secretary seeking in-principle approval for the transfer of about 0.663 acres to the Highways Department for the project immediately.
He is also scheduled to meet the Railway officials in Tiruchi next week to end the stalemate in talks over the transfer of Railway lands that has been almost brought the project to a standstill.
The project, taken up by the Railways and the Highways Department, is being executed in two stages and envisages widening of the narrow road over bridge across the railway lines near the Tiruchi Junction on the Madurai Road intersection. In the first stage, a new three-lane road-over-bridge with five arms and the old bridge will be dismantled in the next stage to build a new bridge with two arms.
However, the first stage of the project has been stalled due to the delay in transfer of the Defence and more importantly the Railway lands. The first stage was scheduled to be completed by February 2017. Given the delay in getting the required lands, the Highways Department is mulling over going in for “foreclosure” of the contract for the first stage of the project. This could lead to a huge delay in the first and second stages of the project.
Mr.Kumar in his letter to the Defence Secretary pointed out that the work has been pending completion for quite some time. Stating that he had written several letters to the Ministry and met officials of the Ministry on the issue over the past few years seeking the transfer of lands, Mr.Kumar said that although five arms of the bridge have been built, the Chennai arm could not be built as the transfer of the Defence land was awaited. The first stage of the project could be completed only after in-principle approval was given by the Ministry, he said.
The Defence Estate Officer, Chennai, had raised a demand for ₹5.78 crore for the transfer of the piece of land and the State government has issued necessary concurrence to go ahead. The State government has also written to the Ministry seeking the transfer of the land, Mr.Kumar said and urged the Secretary to accord in-principle approval immediately in the interest of the public.
Meanwhile, there has not been much improvement in parleys between Railways and Highways Department in getting the Railway land for the first stage of the project. The Highways Department had sought the transfer of about 2,000 square metres of Railway land for the first stage.
Speaking to The Hindu Mr.Kumar said that he was hopeful of getting the in-principle approval from the Defence Ministry soon.
“The approval is expected soon. Meanwhile, I will hold a meeting with officials of the Railways and Highways Department in Tiruchi to discuss of transfer of the Railway land and hope an agreement will be reached,” he said.
