The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is yet to take a decision on whether to build service roads or an elevated corridor on the city stretch of the Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway between the Old Palpannai and Thuvakudi.
This has been indicated by the Project Director, NHAI, Thanjavur, in a recent reply to a query raised under the Right to Information Act by S.Ragunathan, Secretary, Tiruchi-Thanjai NH67 Salai Virivakka Panikalal Bathikapaduvor Kootammaippu (Federation of Persons Affected by Widening of Tiruchi-Thanjavur Highway).
To a series of queries raised by Mr.Ragunathan, the Project Director said a consultant appointed to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for building an elevated corridor has submitted the ‘inception’ and ‘feasibility’ reports. In the meanwhile, a review meeting was held under the chairmanship of Minister for Municipal Administration in August last year and in that meeting the possibility of the construction of service road was discussed. However, no decision has been arrived, the NHAI reply said.
The NHAI official also affirmed that no estimate has been prepared either for the construction of the elevated corridor or the service road.
“The NHAI has made it clear that status quo prevails and no decision has been taken yet, contrary to some media reports,” Mr.Raghunathan told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, the State government’s apparent keenness to build an elevated corridor on the stretch has not enthused residents welfare associations, which insist that the service roads should be built along the road as originally planned.
Highways Minister A.V.Velu, at a recent review meeting, had reportedly directed the officials to expedite steps to get the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) build an elevated corridor along the 14.5-km stretch.
The Federation for Retrieval of Tiruchi-Palpannai-Thuvakudi Service Roads, which has been lobbying for building service lanes for over a decade, has been pressing for the resumption of the land acquisition process for the service lanes, which was suspended midway.
The federation’s chief organiser, R.Sakthivel felt that the Mr.Velu’s directive to the officials to pursue was nothing but an attempt to shift the blame to the NHAI. “The State may put forward its demand to built the elevated corridor. But will the Centre sanction it?” he wondered.
The residents federation contends that the elevated corridor may involve a much higher investment than the service lane and it may take several years to materialise. On the hand, the service road is a sanctioned project already and could be completed quickly to protect loss of lives due to the frequent accidents on the highway stretch, it maintains.
When contacted, a NHAI official said that it was up to the State government to pursue its demand with the Centre, which has to take a decision on the matter.
Published - August 11, 2024 05:33 pm IST
