Minister lays stone for bypass road project
The third phase of the Namakkal bypass road from Vettampadi to Tiruchi Road (6 km) will be laid at a cost of ₹48 crore
Public Works Department Minister E.V. Velu on Monday laid the foundation stone for the third phase of the Namakkal bypass road from Vettampadi to Tiruchi Road (6 km) to be laid at a cost of ₹48 crore.
Speaking at the function, Minister of Forests M. Mathiventhan said that Namakkal is surrounded by roads and after DMK came to power, many infrastructure projects by the PWD and Highway Department were sanctioned for Namakkal district.
To convert the highway roads into green roads, PWD is planting saplings on the two sides of the roads. Similarly, to create awareness, caution boards with traffic rules were displayed on the highways. Compared to Tiruvannamalai district, the home town of PWD Minister, Namakkal, got more road projects, Mr. Mathiventhan added.
Minister Velu said that through the third phase of the bypass road, over four lakh people from 18 villages will benefit. Usually, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) only laid fourlane roads. But, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin provided adequate funds and the State Highways Department is now laying fourlane roads. The first fourlane road under the Chief Minister Road Development Project in Namakkal was built at a cost of ₹73 crore. In the three years of DMK rule, road projects worth ₹372 crore were provided to Namakkal district.
The Chief Minister has instructed officials to convert all 1,281 lowlevel bridges in the State to highlevel bridges. Based on that, in three years, 1,113 roadlevel bridges were converted into highlevel bridges.
“Roads are important for transport and in Namakkal to send eggs to various districts, we need roads. So, roads play a vital role in the economic development and the Chief Minister gives importance to roads,” Mr. Velu added.
In 2009, to expand East Coast Road, the then Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, allocated ₹10 crore. But under the AIADMK government, no steps were taken to expand the road and the project was kept in abeyance for 10 years. Now, to expand the ECR road, ₹1,000 crore is needed, Mr. Velu added.
District Collector S. Uma, MPs KRN. Rajeshkumar, and AKP. Chinraj, MLAs P. Ramalingam and K. Ponnusamy, and officials participated.