Letter from Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to Nitin Gadkari

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to Road Transport and Road Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday to discuss the poor state of road connectivity between Chennai and Ranipet National Highway.

The chief minister claimed the road conditions were so bad that he had to plan to travel by train to several areas in the near future.

Stressing that the road section provides a “vital link” from Chennai and its ports to the industrial clusters of Kanchipuram, Vellore, Ranipet, Hosur and Krishnagiri, Stain said MP Dayanidhi Maran, Minister of Parliamentary Union’s reply to a specific request made by DMK in this regard” Very general” and “noncommittal”.

“I would like to draw your attention to a request made by Thiru. Congressman Dayanidhi Maran made a request to himself to improve the condition of the existing stretch of road from Chennai to Ranipet (NH-4). This section provides Vital link of the city and its ports to the industrial clusters of Kanchipuram, Vellore, Ranipet, Hosur and Krishnagiri. The condition of the roads is so bad that I had to plan to visit several districts by train recently. Though begging our MPs to be on this important road Being very specific, we are disappointed that your response was very general and unclear.”

He further stated, “I would also like to draw your attention to the efforts of our government to support the NHAI project in the state. The Chennai Port to Madurvoyal Elevated Expressway project has resumed with all possible assistance including royalty waiver Aggregates.”

“Similar concessions, never granted in the past, have been extended to other major NHAI projects. At your request, the validity period of the soil/gravel permit has been extended from 3 months to 1 year for 9-5- 2022. The State A special team has been formed at the headquarters to oversee land acquisition for road projects. Permits from the Forestry Department are also under review and as far as I know, no major NHAI projects have been held up for lack of such permits,” he added.

In addition, the progress of land acquisition and permission to take land by district expropriators is regularly monitored at the level of the Chief Secretary. Other requests to make borrowed land free by waiving material costs, royalties and seigniorage are also under consideration. “

Stalin further stated that it was regrettable that Nitin Gadkari in his parliamentary reply had highlighted the impression that the state government was not cooperating with NHAI.

“Despite all these sincere efforts by the government, unfortunately you have highlighted in your parliamentary reply the impression that the state government is not cooperating with the NHAI. I assure you this is not true and we have been doing our best Accelerate all major infrastructure projects without distinction between state and federal projects.”

The Chief Minister also pointed out that the six-lane works on the Sriperumbudur to Walajapet section of the NH-4 were in progress but the works were put on hold due to contract issues between the contractor and NHAI, so the condition of the existing roads was very bad.

“I would be very grateful if you could direct your officials to look into very specific requests from our MPs. The section indicated is the Sriperumbudur to Walajapet section of the NH-4 where six lanes are being worked on. Thanks to the contractors with NHAI Due to contractual issues between , the works were put on hold and thus the condition of the existing roads is very bad. Mentioned that the Madras Hon’ble High Court reduced the toll tolls in Sriperumbudur and Chennasamudram Toll plaza due to poor maintenance in December 2020 to 50%. Poor road conditions and difficulties faced by road users have had a major impact on the reputation of NHAI, which has been doing very well in other parts of our state,” he said.

Ensuring all necessary cooperation for the NHAI project Union Minister Stalin requested that appropriate instructions be given to NHAI officials to expedite the six-lane project and maintain the road section in good condition.

“In light of the above, I request that appropriate instructions be issued to NHAI officials to expedite the six-lane works and maintain the road in good condition. I assure you once again that we will continue to provide all necessary cooperation for your project,” he added .