Unimaginable increase in the Thiruvanmiyur - Akkarai 6 lane project cost in Chennai is shocking!!
Posted on: 02/Nov/2023 9:27:57 AM
The delay in the land acquisition by the state Highways dept has now led to 7 times increase in the cost of widening of 10.5km ECR in seventeen years. From Rs 159 cr in the year 2006, the cost for widening has now gone to about Rs 1100 crores. This huge increase in the cost for the 6lane project Thiruvanmiyur- Akkarai in ECR has caught the attention of many now. It is now revealed that Rs 940 cr or about 85% of the total project cost would go towards the land acquisition. The road expansion cost per km now is Rs 104.7 crores. This was due to the buildings that have come up on lands abutting ECR on both the sides.
Information gathered is that April 2025 is the latest deadline to convert the 4 lane to a 6lane highway. According to Mr. Sampath Kumar, a professor belonging to Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai, acquiring lands for developing projects in Thiruvanmiyur was not easy as the government would have to pay market rate. He added that it was difficult for the people to give up their properties for the sake of road expansion.
Mr. T. Elango, chief engineer of the metro wing of Highways dept expressed his thoughts and spoke about how the road widening work was taken up in 3 parcels namely Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Neelankarai Injambakkam- Sholinganallur belt. He hinted that about 70% of land acquisition for the road expansion was completed. Land acquisitions have led to the delay in the work as many owners took time to accept the compensation package and document verification etc.
It was mentioned by a contract supervisor that the stretches from Injambakkam to Palavakkam have been cleared and trees cut. He revealed that the SWD has been built as bits and pieces only in places where acquisition was completed. Point is that the completion of road expansion work in another 2 years would be difficult.
In places like Palavakkam and Kottivakkam etc, encroachments have returned in the form of parked vehicles and street vendors etc. Thiruvanmiyur based Valmiki Nagar activist pointed out the need to keep the encroachments away.
