The Hindu Business Line : Elevated expressway project gets boost as TN agrees to share cost

Chennai, March 11 The Rs 1,468-crore Elevated Expressway project on the banks of River Coovum from Chennai port to Maduravoyal got a major boost with the Tami Nadu Government agreeing to share 50 per cent of the costs of land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R).

The BOT (build, own and transfer) operator will bring in 50 per cent of the total project cost; the Tamil Nadu Government and the Chennai Port Trust will equally share the Rs 345-crore on land acquisition and R&R of people located along the Coovum River. The National Highways Authority of India will raise the rest through viability cap funding, according to sources.

The investment of the Tamil Nadu Government is subject to condition that the Chennai port will initially pay the entire cost of the land acquisition and R&R. Half the cost would be reimbursed by the TN Government, 50 per cent of which the Government will get back from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, according to a Government order of the State Government.

The project is envisaged as the “port connectivity” programme under the National Highways Development Programme.

The expressway will start from gate No 10 of the port near War Memorial, run along the banks of the River Coovum for the entire 17.5 km to west end of the city.

In June 2007, the State Government gave its ‘in principle’ approval to the National Highways Authority of India for the Elevated Expressway.

Dense settlements

A considerable length of the Coovum River has dense settlements in the form of ‘Kutcha (around 2,100), Semi pucca (1,400) and Pucca’ buildings (1,700). Most of them are settlement residential units and slums, it is learnt.

The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board will be the nodal agency from the State Government to coordinate with NHAI for completing the R&R work with a definite time frame. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority will issue no-objection certificate after taking into the account the alignment of the Metro rail project, the order says.

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