Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Saturday wrote to the Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on the poor road conditions between Chennai to Ranipet National Highway. Stalin claimed that the condition of the road is “so bad” that he had to change his mode of transport to train during his recent visits.
“I wish to bring to your kind notice the request made by Thiru. Dayanidhi Maran, MP, to yourself on the floor of the Parliament to improve the condition of the existing road stretch from Chennai to Ranipet (NH-4). This segment provides vital connectivity from Chennai city and its ports to the industrial clusters in Kanchipuram, Vellore, Ranipet, Hosur, and Krishnagiri. The condition of the road is so bad that I had to plan my recent visits to a few districts by train,” he wrote in the letter dated February 11.
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According to Stalin, the six-laning work between the Sriperumbudur to Walajapet section of NH-4 that has been halted “due to contractual issues”, is responsible for the poor road condition.
“It is not out of place to mention that the Hon’ble High Court of Madras in December 2020 reduced the toll fee at Sriperumbudur and Chennasamudram Toll plaza to 50 percent due to such poor maintenance. The poor road conditions and the difficulties faced by road users have caused a major dent in the reputation of NHAI, which otherwise has been doing an excellent job in our State,” he wrote.
Stalin asserted that while this issue was brought up in the Parliament by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, the reply by Gadkari was “very general and non-committal”.
In the letter, Stalin also mentioned that it was “regrettable that Nitin Gadkari’s response in Parliament gave the impression that the state administration was not cooperating with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).”
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“I also wish to bring to your notice the efforts taken by our Government to support NHAI projects in the State. The Chennai Port to Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway Project has been revived by extending every possible help, including granting exemption from royalty on aggregates. Similar concessions, which were never given in the past, have been extended to other major NHAI projects,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, citing the initiatives made by the Tamil Nadu government to help NHAI developments in the state, he said that the “Chennai Port to Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway Project has been given new life”.
(With inputs from ANI)