MADURAI
A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here to restrain Tamil Nadu Road Infrastructure Development Corporation (TNRIDC) from widening the existing two-lane Outer Ring Road, from Meenakshi Mission Hospital to Kappalur, into a four-lane road without any diversion between Mandela Nagar and Parambupatti.
The PIL petitioner V.V. Muthuramu (72), an Ex-serviceman settled at Perungudi near here, claimed that it was necessary to divert the Ring Road in order to pave way for extension of Madurai airport runway from 7,500 feet to 12,500 feet by cutting across the existing Ring Road towards Mandela Nagar, Chinna Udaippu, Kusavangundu and Koodal Sengulam.
The petitioner said the 27-km-long Outer Ring Road was prone to accidents, especially near the airport, as vehicle-users were tempted to watch landing and take-off of aircraft. He said poor maintenance of the road and too many bends and curves also contributed to accidents.
Hence, the State Government in 2013 decided to widen the Ring Road. As per the original plan, three km on the existing Ring Road between Mandela Nagar and Parambupatti was to be spared, and the road was to be diverted through Ayyan Papakudi, Meivali Asram, Perungudi and Valanenthal.
Claiming that former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had made the announcement in the Assembly under Rule 110 and promised to complete four-laning work within seven months, the petitioner said there was no progress on the project until the TNRIDC issued a tender notification on July 14, 2015 for widening the existing Ring Road without any diversion.
Stating that the works had been planned at a cost of ₹213.69 crore, he said a huge amount of public money would be wasted if the existing road was widened without any diversion since the acquisition of lands for extension of the runway was also happening simultaneously and that the project would also take off any moment.
“Extension of the runway as well as four-laning of the Ring Road are necessary projects but the same could not be mutually destructive,” the petitioner said, and sought a direction to the State Government to consider a representation made by a group of local residents to divert the proposed Ring Road between Mandela Nagar and Parambupatti.
When the case was listed for hearing before a Division Bench of Justices A. Selvam and N. Authinathan on Wednesday, it ordered notices, returnable by July 7, to the State Government and Madurai Corporation.
