Consultant begins work on Port-Maduravoyal corridor

Detailed project report likely to be ready in four months

Construction work halted on Chennai Port-Maduravoyal expressway project on Maduravayal Main Road.

In a step towards resuming the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated road, the consultant appointed to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) has begun its work. The DPR will be based on a report submitted by a technical committee and is likely to be completed in four months.

Sources in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is implementing the project, said the consultant would study the condition of the existing pillars along the 19-km-long corridor. The technical committee had suggested that single pillars be constructed for the remainder of the project that would help de-congest Poonamallee High Road and improve traffic to the port.

Since Union Minister Nitin Gadkari recently said the project would be restarted in four months, the NHAI is working towards that goal. The funds for the project will be sanctioned once the DPR, which includes a cost estimate, is submitted.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board has written to the NHAI informing it that tenements were ready for shifting families that had encroached upon the Cooum, along which the corridor is being constructed. The NHAI has, in turn, written to the Chennai Port Trust informing it of the board’s request for payment of the balance amount that it owes. The port’s share in the project is ₹235 crore towards relief and rehabilitation.

Land acquisition

According to rules, NHAI cannot take up the project until it has at least 80% of the required land.

At present, it has only 50% of the land, sources said and added that only if the port pays the balance amount can the encroachments be removed.

Port users hoped that the project would be revived soon.