Review meeting held

The Highways Minister, Edapadi K. Palanisamy, was informed of the progress of bridge work under way near TVS Nagar during an inspection carried out here on Wednesday.

Ministers Edapadi K. Palanisamy, Sellur K. Raju and Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappainspecting the newly constructed high-level bridge off the existing Kamarajar Bridge in Madurai on Wednesday. Photo: S.James

The bridge work under way near TVS Nagar in the city is expected to be completed by March 31, 2013. The Highways Minister, Edapadi K. Palanisamy, was informed of the progress during an inspection carried out here on Wednesday.

The Minister, accompanied by Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju, Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa, and Collector Anshul Mishra visited the high-level bridge work under way near the Kamarajar Bridge in Pethaniapuram.

The TVS Nagar bridge work was started about two years ago and the officials said that the works would be completed positively by March next year, while the high-level bridge near Kamarajar bridge would be over by September 2012, which would decongest the traffic on the busy Fatima College-Guru Theatre stretch.

Road works

Earlier, Mr. Palanisamy held a meeting to review works that were under way in the Madurai region covering Madurai, Sivaganga, Theni, Ramanathapuram and Dindigul districts in which senior officials participated. As many as 51 road works and 26 bridge works were in progress at various stages at an estimated cost of Rs. 47.36 crore. Under the NABARD projects, seven bridges were being constructed in Madurai and Dindigul districts at a cost of Rs. 7.35 crore and another three rail-over-bridges in these locations at Rs. 69.04 crore, the officials said.

They added that in Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts, with NABARD funds, 11 projects were being taken up at a cost of Rs. 19.76 crore. During the current year, it has been planned to broaden roads in this region spread over 308.82 km at a cost of Rs. 175.97 crore. while a sum of Rs. 110.70 crore would be used for maintenance of roads for a stretch of 285 km.

Small bridges would be built in the region at Rs. 12.04 crore and 39 km of road would be laid at Rs. 26 crore covering the national highways stretch in Madurai region. The Minister told the officials to complete these projects on time and dedicate them to the public. The work schedule should be prepared swiftly and there should not be any delay in the tender process and commencement of works.

Similarly, wherever there were minor patches/ repairs required on the highway stretches, it should be undertaken then and there, he said.