'Roads so bad that I had to...': Tamil Nadu CM Stalin writes to Nitin Gadkari on poor road condition

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari over the poor condition of the road connection between Chennai to Ranipet National Highway, news agency ANI reported on Sunday. The chief minister said the condition of the road was so bad that he had to plan his recent visits to a few districts by train.

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In the letter, Stalin highlighted that this road segment provides "vital connectivity" from Chennai 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," he wrote.

The chief minister also referred to party MP Dayanidhi Maran's specific question in the House regarding this and said the central minister's response was "very general" and "non-committal".

Stalin also underlined the efforts taken by his government to support NHAI projects in Tamil Nadu. He said the Chennai Port to Madurvoyal Elevated Expressway Project had been revived by extending every possible help, including granting exemption from royalty on aggregates. He said similar concessions, which were never given in the past, had been extended to other major NHAI projects.

"Based on the requests from your (Gadkari) 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," Stalin added.

With all such sincere efforts by the state government, Stalin said it was unfortunate that an impression that his government was not cooperating with the NHAI had been created in his 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," said.

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. He requested Gadkari to instruct officials to look into the very specific request raised by party MP Maran.

"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," he said, adding that the 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 added.

(With inputs from agency)