The Highways Department has set Saturday as the deadline for those encroaching the Taramani Link Road to move out.
On Thursday, its officials videographed the encroachments. They made announcements about the deadline over public address system. Several families live on the pavement and many commercial establishments have encroached on the road, which is being widened.
The road connects Velachery with Rajiv Gandhi Salai and is being widened into a six-lane facility.
The work has been hampered because of the encroachments in the form of parking of vehicles by garages, dumping of construction materials, and pavement dwellers.
An official said “We have decided to remove the encroachments completely at one go on Saturday to speed up the road widening work.”
“We have requested officials of various departments, including Revenue Department, Chennai Corporation and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to assist in the encroachment removal. The police have also been requested to provide security,” the official said.
The World Bank-aided road widening work, being executed at a cost of Rs.23.45 crore, began on July 2, 2009 and is scheduled for completion in 18 months.
However, the work is expected to be delayed, officials said.
