The Hindu : Govt. to seek Rs. 70-cr. loan for road works

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 22, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Govt. to seek Rs. 70-cr. loan for road works

By T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI Sept. 21. After losing a great deal of time in procedural wrangles, the State Government has decided to take a Rs. 70-crore loan for improving Chennai roads. This assistance is both for the roads transferred from the Chennai Corporation to the Highways department recently and the corridors still under the control of the civic body.

Among the transferred roads are Rajaji Salai, Kamarajar Salai, Santhome High Road, Nungambakkam High Road, Kodamabakkam High Road, North Usman Road, Sardar Patel Road and Purasawalkam High Road.

Though a government order was issued in mid-June on the transfer of roads, it took more than a month for completing the handover process. As the Corporation and the department did not envisage the development, questions about funding for improvement works, at least during early phase of transition, came up soon. The Government also had to resolve the issue of funding for upgrading those roads which remained with the Corporation. Even while the debate went on, the city roads turned from bad to worse.

As a way out, the Government has decided that the Tamil Nadu Urban Finance Infrastrucural Development Corporation (TUFIDCO) be approached for assistance. For the roads of the Corporation, a loan of Rs. 40 crores will be taken and for those under the Highways, Rs. 30 crores. Both the loans are to be obtained by the civic body, which, in turn, will forward to the Highways department the amount earmarked for its roads, says a senior Corporation official. This week, the Government issued an order permitting the civic body to approach the TUFIDCO. ``Shortly, another GO will be issued for the Highways' roads", says the official.

However, theactual execution of the improvement works will, in all probability, begin only after the end of the northeast monsoon. This means Chennai citizens may have to wait at least for three more months for a `bump-free' ride.

Also service providers are still carrying out road-cutting works for laying cables/lines, though the deadline expired on September 15.

Several bus routes, catering for Saidapet, West Mambalam and Ashok Nagar are now operating on diverted routes because of digging work by Metrowater. Even after the completion of pipelaying, lack of repairs has affected mobility and transport service to lakhs of residents in such localities.

Thanks to the public and media criticism, the Corporation, in recent months, took up work on some of the roads, which were no longer under its control. Nungambakkam High Road, Haddows Road and Radhakrishnan Salai, though transferred to the Highways department, were done up by the civic body at a cost of Rs. 40 lakhs, as they were among the high-volume traffic stretches.

Meanwhile, the Government has passed another order, creating an exclusive division in the Highways Department for city roads. To facilitate the establishment of the Chennai wing, a division at Perambalur has been disbanded and officials working there are being shifted here. It will have about a dozen engineers, headed by an officer at the level of executive engineer. It will henceforth be responsible for maintenance of roads, over a length of 135 km, according to a senior engineer of the department.

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