Date:28/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/28/stories/2008052859610300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Land acquisition for Korukkupet subway begins

Kannal Achuthan

Total cost of the road under bridge is estimated to be Rs.4.94 crore

Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

MAKING SPACE: An earthmover demolishes a building on Kathivakkam High Road in Korukkupet as part of the land acquisition for the road under-bridge project in the area. —

Chennai: Earthmovers razed down about 10 buildings on Kathivakkam High Road in Korukkupet on Tuesday, as part of the land acquisition for the vehicular subway proposed in the locality.

Encroachments on railway land in Korukkupet were also removed by workers of the Chennai Corporation. The subway is a long-pending demand from local residents living on either side of the railway level-crossing at Thyagappa Street near Korukkupet Railway Station.

Teashops, sweet stalls, a jewellery shop, a printing press and some residential buildings were brought down as part of the land acquisition and encroachment removal drive. Property owners with land documents would be compensated if their land was acquired for the project.

The Corporation has floated tenders for the Korukkupet subway. The civic body had initially envisaged the project to be a package of seven bridges planned in different parts of the city. As the project required heavy land acquisition, it was decided to take it up as a separate one. Work on the other six bridges has been taken up by Subhash Projects and Marketing Limited, an infrastructure development firm.

The total cost of the Korukkupet road under bridge is estimated to be Rs.4.94 crore. The project would be funded by the Corporation and the Railways.

Encroachments in the site for the Perambur flyover project were removed on Monday. Most of them were thatched huts. However, the people who had lived in the huts continued to stay on the site. They said they had lived there for over two decades and were evicted without notice.

The Perambur flyover project is expected to start soon. Infrastructure development firm IVRCL had bid for the project and the Corporation Council recently approved the bid.