Civic body shelves Mannarpuram roundabout project

Tiruchi Corporation has shelved the Mannarpuram roundabout development project.

The project, which was finalised a year ago, was aimed at beautification of the roundabout, which is located at the entry point to the city from Madurai-Tiruchi National Highway. Besides improving the greenery of the park, the civic body had planned to establish amusement equipment for children and benches for strollers.

Since the roundabout with a plinth area of about half an acre was considered as suitable for establishing a fountain, the Corporation planned to rope in a New Delhi-based consultant to set up a musical fountain. It was expected that it would cost ₹1 crore for the project. But, enquiries revealed that the Corporation had dropped the proposal due to various reasons.

A senior official of the Corporation told

The Hindu that the roundabout was owned by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The approval of NHAI was necessary for developing the roundabout. Though a communication was sent to NHAI initially, apprehensions were raised on the practical difficulties in maintaining and operating the public park.

Moreover, it was initially planned to tap funds available under Smart City Mission (SCM) for the project. But hurdles cropped up as the proposed area of the project was outside the purview of Area Based Development of SCM. Hence, it had been decided to drop the project temporarily.

However, the official added that the preparation of budget for 2020-21 had been undertaken. It would be released soon. Efforts would be made to allot funds for the Mannarpuram roundabout development project.