Construction of the road over bridge (ROB) near the Railway Junction in the city is set to resume with the State Highways Department and the Defence Estates Office finally signing the much-awaited Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday, paving the way for the transfer of a piece of Defence land to complete the stalled project.
Construction of the multi-level ROB, being built in two stages, was suspended over the past few years pending the transfer of about 0.663 acres of land owned by the Ministry of Defence.
Sources in the Highways Department told The Hindu that the construction work will resume next week. The Department, in anticipation of the signing of the MoU, has already finalised a tender and identified a contractor to complete the remaining portion of works. The original contract for the project was terminated by the department due to the delay in getting the Defence land.
In November last year, the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday has granted ‘working permission’ to the Highways Department for construction of the remaining portion of the incomplete, after some hectic lobbying by elected representatives and officials of the State government. The permission was granted in lieu of ‘equal value infrastructure’ (EVI). The Highways Department would be required to create the EVI in lieu of the land valued at about ₹8.45 crore. The Ministry has also laid out of a set of other terms and conditions for the transfer.
The signing of the MoU brings to an end the prolonged stalemate over the land transfer issue that has been dragging for years. Officials of the Highways Department, district administration, elected representatives and activists heaved a sigh of relief over the signing of MoU.
Tiruchi MP Su.Thirunavukkarasar expressed happiness over the signing of MoU to complete the project that has been dragging for over eight years. “I am happy that one of my important election promises has been fulfilled,” he said and recalled the various efforts and meetings he had with the Defence Minister and other officials in New Delhi on the issue. He expressed his gratitude to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister M.K.Stalin and State Ministers K.N.Nehru, E.V.Velu and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and officials for their efforts in getting the land transferred.
Right from its commencement, the project was severely hampered by delays in land acquisition and transfer from central agencies such as Defence and Railways and some private owners. The project had to be suspended after nearly 90% of the first stage of the project was completed but for the Chennai arm of the bridge, which needs to be connected to a new approach road to be laid across the Defence land. The Chennai arm is the final segment of the first stage of the project.
Construction of the first stage of the flyover began in February 2014 and was scheduled to be completed by February 2017. Once the first stage of ROB is completed and opened for traffic fully, the Highways Department will go ahead with the second stage which envisages dismantling of the existing narrow bridge at the site and construction of a new one.
Published - May 05, 2022 06:41 pm IST
