VILLUPURAM: PMK founder S
Ramadoss
on Monday urged the National Highways Authority of India (
NHAI
) not to abandon the 27km-long six-lane flyover project between Perungalathur and Chengalpet on the
GST Road
.
In a post on X, Ramadoss expressed shock over the reports that the authority had decided to abandon the project due to high cost and proposed to execute an alternative project.
He said the alternative project would not yield the desired results and said the Union and state govts must share the cost of constructing the flyover.
He pointed out that his party had insisted for the past 10 years on constructing a flyover between Perungalathur and Chengalpet to decongest traffic on the GST Road. The party included the project in its election manifestos and shadow budgets over the years and all sections of people welcomed the project, he said.
He said the NHAI initially proposed to implement the project at an estimated cost of Rs 3,523 crore but decided to abandon the project due to high cost and high toll charges among other reasons.
As an alternative proposal, the authority has decided to construct a 7km-long flyover between Kilampakkam and Potheri junctions. The alternative project would not yield any benefits, he said.
Ramadoss said more than 1.5 crore vehicles ply on the GST Road daily. On holidays the number of vehicles on GST Road increases by 50% leading to heavy traffic snarls between Chengalpet and Chennai.
A flyover between Perungalathur and Chengalpet would be the only solution to decongest traffic in the future, he said.
English (US) ·