Think tunneling if Port-Maduravoyal elevated link road row fails to get resolved: expert

Chennai:

As the row between National Highway Authority and Tamil Nadu government over the Chennai Port – Maduravoyal elevated link road project is yet to get resolved, an expert suggested that NHAI should think of building a tunnel link to ease congestion.

Speaking during a panel discussion on ‘Infranomics and Indian Growth story: What ails the Indian Infrastructure Development’ former chairman of National Highways authority Brijeshwar singh said since the deadlocks between the state government and NHAI persists for more than seven months, NHAI should look into other alternatives like building a tunnel.

“This is three times costlier than the elevated project but NHAI has to think of an alternative to ease port congestion,” said Brijeshwar Singh.

Singh said as the government is facing problem over land acquisition, time has come to look for underground structures. “Although the investment will be huge but there is a huge scope for underground development,” he added.

I G Reddy, NHAI Chief General Manager (Technical), Tamil Nadu and Kerala who was present on the occasion ruled out tunnels being the solution and said Rs 1,800 crore project would soon start. The project is lying idle for the last seven months and is resulting in loss of crores of rupees to the exchequer. The Water Resources Department on March has directed NHAI to stop work on the elevated road project stating that that pile caps constructed for the project obstructed the free flow of water in the Cooum. It also stated that the alignment of the elevated road was not along the bank of the river but on the waterways.

Interestingly, the panel discussion focused on the challenges for the Indian government in raising $1 trillion for building Indian infrastructure. The other panelists, which included L Krishnan, chief executive officer IL&FS Urban Infrastructure Managers, M Sivanandam, chief transport planning manager and chief safety officer Southern Railways, A L Sekhar, executive vice president band head heavy civil infrastructure SBG L&T Construction and AK Jain, general manager, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, highlighted land acquisition, rising inflation and current account deficit as major roadblocks for infrastructure development.

Krishnan said that such huge amount of money ($1 trillion) could only come from the government instead of private sector as it is the only credible agency which can borrow the money. Sekhar and Singh stressed on the need for projects to be taken up only after 100 per cent land acquisition is over. “If the land acquistion is not being done it will result in cost overruns,” said Sekhar.