"River Sand Shortage Impacts Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway Elevated Corridor Work in Ambur"

The ambitious elevated corridor project on the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 44) near Ambur in Tirupattur has come to a temporary standstill for over a month. This hiatus has been imposed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in partnership with L&T, and is attributed to the unavailability of river sand from the government quarry located in Kandaneri village near the Pallikonda toll plaza in Vellore, adjacent to the Palar River.

Local district authorities have cited the lack of river sand for the halted elevated corridor work, which is a project of significant national importance. The interruption in the supply of river sand can be traced back to the actions taken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which conducted raids on quarries within the state beginning on September 12.

In an effort to address this issue, officials brought the matter to the attention of Vellore Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian, as the quarry falls under the jurisdiction of Vellore. As a result, river sand from the quarry was provided for a brief period approximately two weeks ago, albeit at a reduced quantity of 300 units a day, in contrast to the project's daily requirement of 1,000 units.

Regrettably, the supply of river sand from the quarry has since ceased, exacerbating the challenges faced by the ongoing construction work. As a consequence, more than 100 contract workers, the majority of whom hail from North Indian states, have been temporarily reassigned to other duties, such as centering work for the construction of concrete pillars required for the elevated corridor project.

THE HINDU