The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has cleared the proposal to construct an elevated expressway from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal after rejecting it twice.
The Expert Appraisal Committee for Coastal Regulation Zone (Infrastructure Development and Miscellaneous Projects), convened recently, accepted the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority's (TNSCZMA) recommendations and gave the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance.
The TNSCZMA, which had earlier objected to the elevated expressway, changed its position and assured the MoEF that construction of the elevated expressway would not affect the free flow of water in the river Cooum. It also stated that the project was permissible under the CRZ Notification, 1991.
The 19-km elevated expressway is aligned partly along the Cooum and partly over Poonamallee High Road.
About 34.58 ha of this proposed road falls within the CRZ and 35 foundation pits fall in the riverbed. In May 2009, when the project was first submitted for CRZ clearance, the expert committee refused to clear it. When it was submitted for the third time and scrutinized in June, the expert committee recommended it for CRZ clearance.
