Plans afoot to acquire land for 6-lane CTH Road

July 8, 2014

DEEPA H. RAMAKRISHNAN

The stretch runs through 13 revenue villages

As a first step towards making Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road a six-lane facility, the highways department is drafting the land plan schedule for acquiring space along the 22-km-long urban stretch of the road, from Padi to Thiruninravur.

Sources in the department said, of the 13 revenue villages the road runs through, land plan schedule, which contains details of land ownership, is ready for nine villages.

“The road is being expanded and re-laid from end to end, wherever there is space. We have taken over land belonging to the government,” said an official. Crash barriers are being cast in-situ and placed on the road on certain stretches.

K. Selvam, who runs an automobile workshop in Mannurpet in Padi, said after re-laying the road, the area has become clean.

“Earlier, there were potholes and a lot of mud. By afternoon, my boys and I would be covered in dust flying from the road,” he said, adding, water stagnation is a problem during and after the rains.

“A proper slope should be maintained so water runs off easily,” he said.

Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said the absence of stormwater drains leads to flooding in adjoining residential areas. “In some places, sewage too flows on to the road. Steps must be taken to prevent this,” he said.

Stormwater drains will be provided only when the six-lane road is laid, said the highways official. “We cannot construct drains for the four-lane stretch, and then break it during expansion. We have provided connections wherever cross drains are there,” said the official.

It was in December 2013, that the highways department took up work to widen the stretch at a cost of Rs. 98 crore after the National Highways Authority of India gave up on it.

Source-http://www.thehindu.com/