Salem-Chennai road project is of national importance: NHAI to SC

NEWDELHI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) told the Supreme Court Thursday that the ₹10,000 crore Salem-Chennai eight-lane green corridor road project is of “national importance” and the Madras high court had erred in quashing the land acquisition process.

The ambitious 277.3-km greenfield project connecting Salem and Chennai under the central government’s Bharatmala Pariyojana Scheme aims to cut travel time between the two cities by half, to about two hours and 15 minutes.

The NHAI told a bench headed by Justice NV Ramana that the HC had held that environmental clearance (EC) was mandatory for the project. “The reasons given by the high court (in the judgement) are factually incorrect,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NHAI, told the bench which also comprised justices MM Shantanagoudar and Ajay Rastogi.

Mehta said the HC erred in saying that grant of prior environmental clearance was necessary for the project. “If we have to take environmental clearance first and then go for land acquisition then it will be like putting the cart before the horse,” Mehta told the bench.

He said there was no dispute on the fact that EC is required before commencement of construction work for the project.

One of the advocates, appearing for the farmers who had moved the HC challenging land acquisition proceedings, told the bench that initially the project was for connecting Chennai and Madurai but later it was changed to Salem-Chennai. The bench told Mehta that he should give a flow chart referring to legal questions as well as the factual matrix of the case.

“Two points will be important. One is environmental clearance and other is change of route from Chennai-Madurai to Chennai-Salem,” the bench observed, adding, “Ultimately, we will decide the law”. “The high court has also given a finding that this (Chennai-Salem project) is not a part of the Bharatmala project. You have to answer this also,” the bench told Mehta.