The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has stopped all ongoing road projects worth more than Rs 17,000 crore in the state following the complete lockdown of the country to fight Covid-19 outbreak.
NHAI officials said 22 road projects under the Centre’s Bharatmala scheme to develop 1,076 km national highways at a cost of Rs 17,800 crore were at various stages of implementation in Tamil Nadu.
“After completing land acquisition and clearing the legal hurdles, a few of the projects had gathered momentum a couple of months ago. Now, the lockdown has pulled us back. It can even lead to fresh legal disputes, cost escalation and inordinate delay in completion of the projects,” said a senior official in NHAI.
Eight projects, covering 558 km of roads, were being implemented in Chennai Region. They include Rs 1,250 crore project to six-lane the 148 km stretch of NH 46 from Krishnagiri to Walaja, Rs 1,020 crore project to four-lane Trichy-Kallagam section of NH 227 and Rs 1,071 crore project between Kallagam and Meensuriti on NH 227. These projects are being implemented in Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Krishnagiri and Chennai districts.
In Madurai region 14 ongoing projects were put on hold. The total cost of the projects was Rs 11,416 crore. They include improvement of 517 km of roads on NH 45 C, 45 E, 47, 67, 209, 785 and 785 E. Six of them are worth Rs 1,000 crore each. The projects were being implemented in Thanjavur, Nagarcoil, Madurai and Dindigul districts.
Source: auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com
