After over a decade, work to construct the rail overbridge (ROB) at Veppampattu has recently resumed with the contractor conducting the bhumi puja. It was held before the model code of conduct kicked in. The contractor has begun clearing the site.
Sources in the highways department said that since work on one side could not be taken up due to a stay, they constructed on the other side. The legal battle took some years to resolve and only last year the way was cleared. Then a fresh design and estimate were drawn up since the new structure is to be integrated with the old one and costs of materials and labour would have gone up manifold. Technology has changed too, the official added.
The government had sanctioned ₹29 crore in 2011 for the 1,045-metre-long ROB, which includes 32.40 m of railway portion, which will replace level crossing 14. In February, the State government sanctioned ₹44.55 crore for the remaining work.
