NHAI revives ₹10,000-cr Chennai-Salem e-way project

The National Highways Authority of India has revived the stuck Chennai-Salem greenfield expressway and urged the state government to issue directions to district collectors of Salem, Dharmapuri, Tiruvannamalai and Kancheepuram to complete the social impact assessment study and preparation of environmental impact assessment report for the project. The Supreme Court had already upheld the notification for acquisition of land for the 10,000-crore green corridor project and directed the NHAI to get environmental clearance for the project before carrying out land acquisition.

The NHAI has to carry out a comprehensive socio-economic assessment with emphasis on the impact of ongoing land acquisition on the locals living around the proposed alignment. An assessment of impact on local biodiversity, wildlife corridors and its mitigation strategy, including baseline generation, wildlife movement, and identification of corridors along 277.3km corridor has been completed by the department of environmental science and engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad. Similarly, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, completed an ecosystem study. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari assured that the project would be completed by 2025. NHAI has appointed KITCO (a Kerala government undertaking) to carry out the socio-economic study and after completion, the environmental impact assessment report has to be prepared and submitted to the pollution control board.