Road-users have urged the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) not to hand over the 10.4-km-long Madhavaram-Nallur stretch to the Tamil Nadu government.
The NHAI had written to its headquarters seeking permission for the handover, citing urbanisation and a manifold increase in local vehicular traffic on the stretch.
S. Suresh Babu, a resident of Billakuppam village in Gummidipoondi, said he frequently commuted on the stretch, and not a day went by without a traffic jam.
“If this stretch is handed over to the State Highways Department, it will meet the same fate as the Padi-Thiruninravur stretch on the Chennai-Tiruttani-Renigunta Road. The NHAI had said that it cannot widen the road from Padi. Though more than a decade has passed, the State Highways [Department] has been unable to widen it uniformly,” he pointed out.
R. Raghunathan, a resident of Ambattur, said the move would also result in the NHAI dropping its proposal to construct an elevated corridor on the stretch. “It has been at least ten years since the project was announced, and a detailed project report should have been ready several years ago. The NHAI can hand over the road [to the State government] after constructing the facility [the corridor],” he said.
Pressing for project
He further said, “There has been a proposal to construct an elevated corridor on the Maduravoyal-Sriperumbudur stretch, which has been very much urbanised too. If such a project can be taken up on the stretch, an elevated corridor can be constructed on the Madhavaram-Nallur stretch as well….”
Mr. Babu said he had written to Centre and the NHAI, urging them to give up on the move.
Ten years ago too, the stretch (with seven traffic junctions) witnessed heavy vehicle movement – mainly heavy and multi-axle ones.
Published – January 02, 2025 12:56 am IST
