₹12,500-crore project to be taken up in phases, with funding from JICA

Environmental clearance has been accorded to the 162-km-long Chennai Peripheral Road (CPR) that will connect Pooncheri near Mamallapuram with Kattupalli in Tiruvallur district.

Official sources said that the clearance was recently granted by the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), on the condition that the project could be taken up after obtaining due Coastal Regulation Zone clearance.

The project, which is likely to cost around ₹12,500 crore, will be taken up in phases, with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), an agreement for which is to be signed shortly, the sources said.

In the first phase, a 25-km stretch from Kattupalli Port to Thachur will be taken up, with a 3-km link road to the Chennai Outer Ring Road at Neithavoyal. This will cost around ₹3,500 crore, including the acquisition of 260 hectares of land, which is under way.

Of the 15 villages on this stretch, in 11 villages, the process is in at an advanced stage, said an official source in the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company, the project associate.

“Though several tracts of land in these areas are classified as agricultural, lands along the Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti Road have been converted into real estate, in expectation of the project that was initiated in 2007-08. Hopefully, they will get better rates with the new Land Acquisition Act,” said Rathinam, a real estate agent in Ponneri.

The road, which will be six lanes wide, with two service lanes on either side, will also have space for a utilities corridor to carry oil and gas pipelines, since the road connects industrial hubs. Initially, it will be four lanes wide, with space on either side for expansion. The structures, including interchanges and bridges, will cater to six lanes, with space for service lanes, an official said.

Work on construction of the road is expected to begin by 2020, since JICA funding stipulates relief and rehabilitation of project-affected persons.

The new Land Acquisition Act also stipulates 100% solatium, which means payment of an additional 100% of the registered market value of land. Structures too will get similar compensation. The value of the land will be fixed based on the highest value for similar lands in a 1.6-km. radius.

Meanwhile, taking into consideration objections of around 160 patta holders from Pungambedu area in Minjur, the alignment of the road has been changed to minimise acquisition, sources said. In the alternative alignment, around 20 patta lands will be affected, but they will be given due compensation.