DPR for revised alignment of bypass road is in final stages

NHAI nod for disbursement of compensation to land owners expected soon

The bypass will form part of a semi-ring road connecting almost all major national highways around Tiruchi.

Preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for construction of the bypass road, connecting Tiruchi-Madurai and Tiruchi-Karur national highways, on the revised alignment has reached the final stages, according to sources in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The approval for payment of compensation to property owners whose lands are to be acquired for the project was awaited from the NHAI headquarters and expected soon, the sources said.

Though the officials were wary of committing a specific time-frame for the commencement of the work, they said all efforts were being made to begin the work “at the earliest.”

The bypass will form part of a semi-ring road connecting almost all major national highways around the city. The project ran aground after farmers raised objections to the road being laid across irrigation tanks. It will run from Panchapur on Tiruchi-Madurai Highway (NH45) via Thayanur to Thindukarai near Jeeyapuram on Tiruchi-Karur stretch of NH 67.

The project was halted midway in 2010 after the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, while hearing a petition from farmers’ organisations, struck down the NHAI plan to build the road across Kothamangalam, Kallikudi and Punganur irrigation tanks in Tiruchi district. The project was originally taken up as part of the widening of NH 67 executed on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis by NHAI. It ran into controversy over alignment and land acquisition issues in 2006-07. Farmers complained that the road, if built across the tanks, would affect irrigation and their livelihood. The court ordered that the bypass road be laid without affecting irrigation sources. Subsequently, a public hearing was held and a revised alignment was finalised.

NHAI sources told The Hindu that about 33 hectares of lands in about four villages are to be acquired on a stretch of about six km under the new alignment. The Revenue authorities have already fixed the value of the land and the proposal for disbursement of compensation to the property owners have been forwarded to the NHAI headquarters in New Delhi. The DPR for the revised alignment is also in the final stages of preparation. “About 95% of the processes have been completed,” an official said.

A few old structures, which were built initially, would be retained if cleared by experts, the sources said.

It could take about 18 to 24 months to complete the road as a few major structures, including two road over bridges and a flyover, have to be built as part of the project.