The Highways Department has sought details from the Revenue Department about the Rs.60 lakh it had paid in the 1980s towards land acquisition for expansion of a two kilometre-stretch of Poonamallee High Road.
Highways officials said that they had deposited the amount with the Revenue Department to be paid as compensation to 124 people for land acquisition on the two kilometre stretch from New Avadi Road to D.G.Vaishnav College.
An official of the Revenue Department said that the Egmore Nungambakkam tahsildar had been instructed to locate the records. “They are records pertaining to a 30-year-old transaction so it is taking some time,” the official said. Though the road is broad, the particular stretch in Aminjikarai is very narrow. The carriage way is just 15 metres wide, which has led to a bottleneck, said Highways Department officials.
The Highways Department also requires the additional land as work on widening a four-lane bridge near Aminjikarai is expected to be completed by July. The facility is being constructed at a cost of Rs.7 crore. It would be 48 metres long.