Ahead of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin’s proposed visit, the Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 48), which is maintained by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Vellore and Ranipet districts is getting a major makeover including a fresh coat of bitumen on the carriageway. Officials said that the Chief Minister will visit Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai on June 21 and 22 to inaugurate various government welfare programmes. During his visit, the Chief Minister will inaugurate the new Collectorate and the CMC’s new hospital in Ranipet. He will also handover sewing machines to mothers of around 100 children with disabilities. In Vellore, the Chief Minister will open the new bus terminus on the highway. In Tirupattur, he will inaugurate the new Collectorate on June 21. After a night halt at Tiruvannamalai, the Chief Minister will unveil the statue of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and an arch in the temple town on June 22, followed by a public meeting in the government school ground. “The recent visit by DGP, Sylendra Babu, (on May28) to Vellore where SPs of all four districts were present along with DIG (Vellore) is also part of checking the security preparedness of the district police ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit,” police said. NHAI officials said at present the highway between Krishnagiri and Walajapet (Ranipet district), a distance of 148 km, is maintained by L&T on behalf of NHAI on a 30-year agreement for maintenance. The agreement was made a decade ago. Accordingly, the complete makeover of the entire stretch should be done only once in a decade. Regular maintenance including patchwork should be done once in six months on the stretch. However, work on the stretch, especially in Vellore and Ranipet, mainly Arcot and Walajah towns, have not been taken up for many months. The stretch has also been badly damaged due to heavy rains during last monsoon. As a result, the repair work is being taken up, coinciding with the Chief Minister’s visit to these districts. Accordingly, the makeover work includes removal of existing damaged bitumen from the carriageway and laying a fresh coat of tar to a height of 1.5 ft. Damaged steel median at many spots along the stretch will be fixed and repainted. Zebra markings and separate pedestrian pathways will be done. Entire electrical lines to street lights will be checked. Broken concrete footpaths on service lanes will be re-built with bushes and abandoned vehicles on them will also be removed, officials said.
