PM to inaugurate elevated expressway

Chennai: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will inaugurate the country’s longest elevated corridor connecting Chennai port and Maduravoyal junction, a suburb to the west of Chennai.

The project is aimed at quick and continuous dispersal of cargo in and out of the port to other parts of the country through the Golden Quadrilateral corridor.

The 19-km Elevated Expressway project (17.5 km elevated and 1.5 km at grade length) to be built the Delhi-based Soma Enterprises will cost Rs 1,655 crore and the concession period will be for 15 years. There will be three exits and three entries and toll plazas at Spur Tank Road and Maduravoyal.

According to Union Shipping and Transport Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, around 12,000 families of the weaker sections especially slum dwellers are going to be rehabilitated by providing alternative shelters at an estimated cost of Rs 258 crore.

The Tamil Nadu Government and the Chennai Port Trust will share equally the cost of land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement of slum dwellers.