Date:27/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/27/stories/2008122755881100.htm

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National highway projects cleared

Special Correspondent

Four/six-laning of Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Amritsar-Pathankot sections
Four-laning of Tirupati-Tiruttani-Chennai and Coimbatore-Mettupalayam sections

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved new projects under the National Highways Development Programme.

These include construction of an 18-km, four-lane elevated road from the Chennai port to Maduravoyal; four/six-laning of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada, and Amritsar-Pathankot sections and four-laning of the Tirupati-Tiruttani-Chennai and Coimbatore-Mettupalayam sections of the National Highway network.

For smooth traffic

The elevated road in Chennai is designed to facilitate smooth flow of traffic to and from the port, particularly in the context of the increasing volume of vehicles handled by the port from the western belt around Sriperumbudur. The density of traffic is expected to go up further with the commissioning of the second container terminal at Dr. Ambedkar Dock. The one-million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) per year facility is slated to become operational in March next.

The elevated road will start near Gate 10 of the port, traverse along the Cooum river bank up to Koyambedu, use the Koyambedu interchange, which is under construction, and again rise as an elevated road near the Koyambedu market to end at Maduravoyal, at the junction of National Highway 4 with the Chennai bypass. For general traffic, entry/exit ramps would be available on Kamarajar Salai (exit), Sivananda Salai (entry), College Road (entry) and Spur Tank Road (exit).

The Rs.1,530-crore project will be implemented on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis, with a concession period of 15 years. The Tamil Nadu government has agreed to carry out land acquisition, and rehabilitation and resettlement of those who will be affected by the project on a 50:50 cost basis with the Chennai port.

Land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement are estimated to cost Rs. 310 crore. The Chennai Port Trust will initially bear this expenditure fully and subsequently the State government will reimburse 50 per cent. The Centre’s share in the project will be limited to providing viability gap funding, which will not exceed 40 per cent of the total cost. The project is estimated to be completed in three years.

Announcing the CCEA decision taken on Friday, Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson P. Chidambaram said the four/six-laning of Hyderabad-Vijayawada section was estimated to cost Rs. 1,603 crore, and the Amritsar-Pathankot section Rs. 851 crore. The projects for four-laning of the Tirupati-Tiruttani-Chennai and Coimbatore-Mettupalayam sections are estimated to cost Rs. 922 crore and Rs. 582 crore.

In other States

The other approved projects include four-laning of the Kuttipuram-Edapally section in Kerala at a cost of Rs.1,643 crore, Kundapur-Surathkal and Mangalore on the Karnataka-Kerala border at a cost of Rs. 891 crore, the Muzaffarnagar-Hardwar-Dehra Dun section at a cost of Rs. 1,516 crore, four/six-laning of the Ghaziabad-Aligarh section at a cost of Rs. 1,570 crore and six-laning of the Pune-Sholapur section at a cost of Rs. 965 crore.

The CCEA also approved six-laning of the Kishangarh-Beawar section in Rajasthan at a cost of Rs. 727 crore, and four-laning of the Patna-Buxar and Khagari-Bhaktiapur sections in Bihar at a cost of Rs. 1,757 crore and Rs. 1,766 crore.