Chennai: Assuring Tamil Nadu government’s full support and cooperation for all the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects, Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Saturday urged Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to issue suitable instructions to NHAI officials to expedite the six-laning works on the Sriperumbudur to
Walajapet section of NH-4 and maintain the road stretch in good condition.
Pointing out to the Union Minister’s reply in Parliament, the Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that an impression was created that the State Government was not cooperating with NHAI.
In a Demi-Official letter to the Union Minister, copies of which were released to the media here, he listed out the efforts taken by his government to support the NHAI projects in the State and said it was unfortunate that an impression that the State Government was not cooperating with NHAI has been underlined in your reply in the Parliament.
Stalin referred to the request made by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran to the Union Minister on the floor of the Parliament to improve the condition of the existing road stretch from Chennai to Ranipet (NH-4).
This segment provides the vital connectivity from Chennai city and its ports to the industrial clusters in Kanchipuram, Vellore, Ranipet, Hosur and Krishnagiri, he said.
“The condition of the road is so bad that I had to plan my recent visits to a few districts by train. While the request from our MP was very specific on this important road, we were disappointed with your reply which was very general and non-committal”, the Chief Miniser said.
Bringing to Mr Gadkari’s notice the efforts taken by his Government to support NHAI projects in the State, Mr Stalin said the Chennai Port to Madurvoyal Elevated Expressway Project has been revived by extending every possible help, including granting exemption from royalty on aggregates.
Similar concessions, which were never given in the past, have been extended to other major NHAI projects. “Based on the requests from your side, the validity of soil/gravel permits has been extended from three months to one year on May 9, 2022”, he said.
Stating that a Special Cell has been constituted in the State Headquarters to monitor land acquisition for highway projects, Mr Stalin said “permissions from Forest Department are also being reviewed and to the best of my knowledge, no major NHAI project is held up for want of such permissions.”
In addition, the progress in land acquisition and borrow earth permissions by the District Collectors is being regularly monitored at the level of Chief Secretary. The other requests for providing borrow earth free of cost by waiving the material cost, royalty and seigniorage charges are also under consideration, he pointed out.
With all such sincere efforts by the Government, it was unfortunate that an impression that the State Government was not cooperating with NHAI has been underlined in your reply in the Parliament.
“I assure you that it is not true and we have been trying our best to expedite all major infrastructure projects without discriminating between the projects undertaken by the State and Union Governments”, the Chief Minister said.
Mr Stalin said he would be extremely grateful if MrGadkari could instruct his officials to look into the very specific request raised by Mr Dayanidhi Maran.
The road stretch pointed out is the Sriperumbudur to Walajapet section of NH-4 where the six-laning work is in progress. The works have been held up due to contractual issues between the contractors and NHAI and hence the condition of the existing road is very bad, he said.
It is not out of place to mention that the Hon’ble High Court of Madras in December, 2020 reduced the toll fee at Sriperumbudur and Chennasamudram Toll plaza to 50% due to such poor maintenance. The poor road conditions and the difficulties faced by road users have caused a major dent in the reputation of NHAI, which otherwise has been doing an excellent job in our State, he added.
“In view of the above, I request that suitable instructions may kindly be issued to the NHAI officials to expedite the six-laning works and maintain the road stretch in good condition”, Mr Stalin said.
“I once again assure you that we will continue to extend all necessary cooperation for your projects”, he added.
