"Roads So Bad That...": Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Letter To Nitin Gadkari

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday wrote to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari over the poor condition of the road connection between Chennai to Ranipet National Highway.

The Chief Minister claimed that the condition of the road is so bad that he had to plan his recent visits to a few districts by train.

Highlighting that the road segment provides "vital connectivity" from Chennai and its ports to the industrial clusters in Kanchipuram, Vellore, Ranipet, Hosur and Krishnagiri, Stain said that the reply given by the Union Minister in the Parliament to a specific request made by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran in this regard was "very general" and "non-committal".

"I wish to bring to your kind notice the request made by Thiru. Dayanidhi Maran, MP, to yourself on the floor of the Parliament to improve the condition of the existing road stretch from Chennai to Ranipet (NH-4). This segment provides the vital connectivity from Chennai city and its ports to the industrial clusters in Kanchipuram, Vellore, Ranipet, Hosur and Krishnagiri. The condition of the road is so bad that I had to plan my recent visits to a few districts by train. While the request from our MP was very specific on this important road, we were disappointed with your reply which was very general and non-committal."

He further pointed, "I also wish to bring to your notice the efforts taken by our Government to support NHAI projects in the State. The Chennai Port to Madurvoyal Elevated Expressway Project has been revived by extending every possible help, including granting exemption from royalty on aggregates."

"Similar concessions, which were never given in the past, have been extended to other major NHAI projects. Based on the requests from your side, the validity of soil/gravel permits has been extended from 3 months to 1 year on 9-5-2022. A Special Cell has been constituted in the State Headquarters to monitor land acquisition for highway projects. Permissions from Forest Department are also being reviewed and to the best of my knowledge, no major NHAI project is held up for want of such permissions," he added.

In addition, the progress in land acquisition and borrow earth permissions by the District Collectors is being regularly monitored at the level of the chief secretary. The other requests for providing borrow earth free of cost by waiving the material cost, royalty and seigniorage charges are also under consideration."

Stalin further said that it was unfortunate that an impression was created that the state government was not cooperating with NHAI has been underlined in Nitin Gadkari's reply in Parliament.

"With all such sincere efforts by the Government, it was unfortunate that an impression that the State Government was not cooperating with NHAI has been underlined in your reply in the Parliament. I assure you that it is not true and we have been trying our best to expedite all major infrastructure projects without discriminating between the projects undertaken by the State and Union Governments."

The Chief Minister also noted that six-laning work was in progress in the Sriperumbudur to Walajapet section of NH-4, but the work has been held up due to contractual issues between the contractors and NHAI and hence the condition of the existing road is very bad.

"I would be extremely grateful to you if you could instruct your officials to look into the very specific request raised by our MP. The road stretch pointed out is the Sriperumbudur to Walajapet section of NH-4 where the six-laning work is in progress. The works have been held up due to contractual issues between the contractors and NHAI and hence the condition of the existing road is very bad. It is not out of place to mention that the Hon'ble High Court of Madras in December 2020 reduced the toll fee at Sriperumbudur and Chennasamudram Toll plaza to 50 per cent due to such poor maintenance. The poor road conditions and the difficulties faced by road users have caused a major dent in the reputation of NHAI, which otherwise has been doing an excellent job in our State," he said.

Assuring of all necessary cooperation for NHAI projects Stalin the Union Minister requested that suitable instructions need to be issued to the NHAI officials to expedite the six-laning works and maintain the road stretch in good condition.

"In view of the above, I request that suitable Instructions may kindly be Issued to the NHAI officials to expedite the six-laning works and maintain the road stretch in good condition. I once again assure you that we will continue to extend all necessary cooperation for your projects," he added.