The public hearing for owners of lands being acquired for the proposed Chennai-Bengaluru expressway passing through the villages of Mahimandalam, Melpadi and Veppalai was held in Vellore on Tuesday.
The public hearing was conducted in the presence of District Collector C. Kumaravel Pandian, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board District Environmental Engineer (Vellore) G.Ravichandran, District Revenue Officer Ramamoorthy, and C. Ajay Srinivasan, SDRO, LA- NH, Vellore.
The 11.67-km stretch running through the district would have one interchange, three major bridges and two vehicular underpasses.
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Around 5.42 hectares of the Mahimandalam is being taken for the four-lane-wide project, explained sources in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The State government gave concurrence in 2010 for the project that runs for a distance of 92 km in Tamil Nadu.
It runs some 10 km away from major towns and will pass via Vallimalai near Vellore, Banavaram near Ranipet and Govindavadi near Kancheepuram. Of the ₹5,964-crore project cost in Tamil Nadu, ₹2,301 crore would go towards land acquisition costs.
Those at the public hearing urged the NHAI to provide higher compensation for their lands. Around 80% of lands required for the greenfield project have been taken possession of. The public hearing for the 42-km stretch running via 28 villages in Ranipet district has been slated for Wednesday. "So far there has been no objections for the project from land owners," sources.said.
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