Three firms have bid to construct one of the key sections of Metro’s phase II project, the stretch from Poonamallee Bypass to Porur Junction.
Hindustan Construction Company Ltd.–KEC International joint venture, Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) and NCC Ltd. have shown interest in the construction of this 26.09 km elevated stretch.
This section forms part of the Light House to Poonamallee Bypass corridor, which is one of the three in the 118.9 km phase II project. The other two are Madhavaram to Shollinganallur and Madhavaram to SIPCOT.
Poonamallee Bypass, Poonamallee Bus Terminus, Mullai Thottam, Karayan Chavadi, Kumanan Chavadi, Kaatupakkam, Iyapanthangal Bus Depot, Ramachandra Hospital and Chennai Bypass will be the stations on the Poonamallee Bypass to Porur Junction corridor.
These three firms had also bid for the stretch from Porur Junction to Power House, which also falls under the Light House to Poonamallee Bypass corridor.
Priority corridor
According to the officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), though these two stretches do not fall under the priority corridor, they still wanted to float most of the civil tenders by the end of the year and award the contracts by early next year, after which the construction can simultaneously begin across the city.
The priority corridor is a 52 km stretch from Madhavaram to CMBT and Madhavaram to Taramani, for which funding was first finalised and tenders were floated.
Sources said while it was easier building elevated stations as compared to the underground stations, it was not going to be easy carrying out work on the stretch as there were many congested areas.
“We are planning to finish the construction of this stretch in about three years. Most of the detailed designs are nearly complete,” an official said.
