Highways Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami on Thursday said that the process of acquiring land from Southern Railway and the Ministry of Defence for completing the remaining portion of the partially opened road overbridge in Tambaram would be speeded up.
Speaking to reporters after an inspection of the Rs.80-crore facility, which was partially opened for traffic (connecting Mudichur Road and GST Road) shortly before the Assembly elections, he attributed the delay in completing the project to the time taken for land acquisition and removal of encroachments.
Despite the partial opening of the bridge, traffic problems persisted on GST Road near the entrance to the Tambaram railway station. By acquiring a small portion of the land from Southern Railway, the Highways Department would be able to widen the road at this point for easing congestion.
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Further, land was required from Civil Lines of Indian Air Force on Mudichur Road for laying service lanes and building stormwater drains. The process of acquiring land would be speeded up, Mr. Palaniswami said.
A section of residents and traders of West Tambaram said the completion of the bridge had virtually cut off Shanmugham Road, an important commercial place in Tambaram and this posed severe problems to the residents, motorists and traders. The Minister visited the spot and said that the matter would be taken up for a review.
He said the remaining portions of the bridge would be completed in a month's time. T.K.M.Chinnayya, Minister for Backward Classes and Environment, who is also Tambaram MLA, and C.Rajendran, South Chennai Member of Parliament, accompanied the minister.
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