Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu has sought to set the record straight on the issue of widening the Mamallapuram-Puducherry stretch of the East Coast Road (ECR) into four lanes.
The issue pertained to the time taken by the State government in issuing a no objection certificate (NOC) and handing over the 105-km stretch of the ECR, also called National Highways (NH-332A), to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), which had proposed to widen the road at an estimated cost of over ₹3,000 crore under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.
The Chief Secretary, who replied on Wednesday to the April 8 letter of the NHAI’s chairperson Alka Upadhyaya ,said he was “surprised” at her statement that on the issue, there was “no response” from the State government, which “is not inclined” to hand over the road.
Pointing out that the Government Order on the NOC for the handing over of the road was issued on April 11, he hoped that “the widening work on the handed-over road, will be taken up shortly.”
Giving an account of the interactions, both direct and in writing, that the State government held with the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the NHAI in the last couple of months on the issue, the Chief Secretary recalled that the State Highways and Minor Ports department’s Principal Secretary [Dheeraj Kumar], in his meeting with the NHAI chief in New Delhi on March 31, assured her that the NOC would be issued in about 10 days. He had also been “informing the Regional Officer” of the Authority, Chennai, regarding the developments on the issue from time to time.
Earlier, Mr Irai Anbu, in a letter on March 7, apprised Secretary of MoRTH [Giridhar Aramane] of the steps being taken by the State government in “working out a mechanism” by which the road assets mortgaged to banks due to loans could be freed and handed over to the NHAI. He had also written about the issue of compensating the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company for the loss. Prior to this communication, the State Highways and Minor Ports Secretary, on January 13, conveyed to the Regional Officer that the issue of NOC was “under examination” of the State government and “due to the complications involved, it may take some more time.”
Expressing again the hope that the NHAI chief would understand the State government’s efforts to resolve issues and get the projects of the Authority implemented expeditiously, the Chief Secretary added he was “looking forward” to having “more meaningful coordination” from the Authority.
