The Chennai Corporation is set to demolish 200 buildings along Kaliamman Koil Street, which connects Koyambedu with Virugambakkam, to widen the stretch to 27 metres. Now, the width of the road is just six metres in some areas.
The civic body has sought an amount of ₹150 crore from the government for land acquisition along the road. The land to be acquired along 3.1 km of the street for the project is 29,224 sq. metres. The stretch is likely to be the first road to be widened after land acquisition and demolishing buildings.
According to official sources, the land plan schedule for widening of the entire stretch of Kaliamman Koil Street was completed by a consultant appointed by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and handed over to the Corporation 17 years ago. But the work was delayed owing to challenges in land acquisition.
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In addition to easing traffic congestion near CMBT, the project is expected to improve access to the housing project for Indian Administrative Officers in Nerkundram.
“We are planning to take land using Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for the owners of land along Kaliamman Koil Street,” said an official.
Corporation officials said that other roads such as Sardar Patel Road, Nelson Manickam Road, Santhome High Road, Strahans Road, Perambur Barracks Road, Paper Mills Road, Sembium Red Hills Road, Arcot Road and Kodambakkam Road would also be widened.
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The CMDA has already acquired private land for other projects, such as the Metro Rail, by utilising TDR provisions. In 2013, the Corporation council also passed a resolution for widening congested bus routes in the city.
After obtaining administrative sanction from the government, the civic body is expected to ask the CMDA to issue Development Rights Certificate (DRC) to affected land owners on Kaliamman Koil Street. The certificates entitle property owners to claim additional built-up area (floor space index) in lieu of the space surrendered to the civic agency for the road widening.
In a few months, Kaliamman Koil Street is expected to support more traffic, improve access to Arcot Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai, linking Koyambedu, Virugambakkam, Porur, Vadapalani and K.K. Nagar.
According to the original proposal, the civic body had to acquire 37,600 sq. metres of private land on either side of Kaliamman Koil Street to widen the 3.1-km stretch of the road in the first phase. The width of the road is likely to be restricted to 24 metres on some portions of the stretch, growing wider near the Koyambedu market. Officials said the acquisition of land would be possible under the new statutory provisions only after 80% of the land owners agreed to the project.