Elevated expressway: Expert committee to meet today

It will discuss alignment and suggest change in design

Close on the heels of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s visit to New Delhi and his promise to expedite the ₹1,815 crore Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated expressway project, the expert committee formed to study the project will meet here on Friday.

The team is likely to visit the Cooum near Spurtank Road where pillars have been constructed in “an objectionable manner.” The team, comprising engineers from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Water Resources Department (WRD), will discuss the alignment and suggest changes in the design of the supportive structures so as to ensure the free flow of water.

The NHAI, the State government and the Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) are stakeholders in the 19-km long project.

The project was suspended in 2012 due to a row between the WRD and the NHAI. Recently, the WRD agreed to the NHAI’s demand that it change the design as per the specifications the latter suggested.

Port users welcomed the revival of the project. S. Padmanabhan, a ChPT user, said the port continued to be attractive due to its two cargo terminals. “The import of polluting materials such as coke, coal and fertilisers has been shifted to other ports but business has not been affected much. The recession is on its last legs. This is the right time to create infrastructure,” he said.

K.V.V. Giri of the Chennai Customs Broker Association said that since the project remained incomplete, most of the inbound cargo from the Sriperumbudur-Oragadam industrial belt was brought to the container freight station at Madhavaram since it was operational around the clock. “The trailers are forced to go via north Chennai to reach the zero gate of the port. The project will help drivers save 30 km of travel and reduce cost and time,” he said.

An exporter noted that the opening of the Krishnapattnam and Kamarajar ports had affected traffic. “Much of the traffic from Chennai port goes to Krishnapattnam. This is due to the faster and more efficient handling of cargo,” he said.

Chennai port sources pointed out that ups and down in handling cargo were natural when a new facility came up.

(With inputs from K. Lakshmi and Sunitha Sekar)