Acquisition of land for the Chennai Outer Ring Road (ORR) Project Phase-I from 11 villages of Kancheepuram district is set to gain momentum with the State government sanctioning nearly Rs. 185 crore for the purpose.
Sources associated with the project said the acquisition would facilitate the setting up as many as 25 bus bays, a wayside amenity at Malayambakkam and an interchange at Vandalur. Each bus bay would require around 1,100 sq mt. Phase I has around 60 bus bays, of which 35 have already been completed.
The wayside amenity would take up 23,400 sq mt of land, while the Vandalur interchange, to come up on the Tiruchi Road (NH-45), would require 35,000 sq mt. Around 90 land owners have already been issued notices, including those having apartments in a complex that was constructed recently.
Explaining the importance of an interchange, the sources said it usually is constructed at junctions and consists of a grade separator and ramps to ensure uninterrupted flow of traffic on the highway below to pass without cutting across any other traffic stream.
The one proposed in Vandalur would require 10 - 20 metre of land on either side of the highway.
An order issued earlier this week by the Highways Department said the government has accepted a proposal of the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC), the managing associate, in this regard. It sanctioned Rs.184.81 crore towards the cost of the lands to be acquired in the 11 villages of Chengalpattu, Tambaram and Sriperumbudur taluks.
The sanction, however, is subject to the condition that receipts from the project, by way of toll revenue and development corridor, are shared between Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, the agency responsible for the acquisition, and the State government as 5 per cent and 95 per cent.
The administrative sanction for the Chennai ORR Project Phase-I, to connect Vandalur at National Highway-45 and Nemilichery at NH-205, was given in February 2009. The cost estimate approved then was Rs.864.22 crore. In October the same year, a revised administrative sanction for the 30-km project for Rs.1,081.40 crore was issued.
The land to be acquired from the 11 villages would be 1.27 lakh square metres of private land and transfer of government lands measuring nearly 10,635 sq.m. According to TNDRC, the ORR would be 62 km-long, linking Vandalur with Minjur on the Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetty Road via Nazartpet, Nemellichery and Padayanallur.
