Chennai: The East Coast Road elevated corridor project from Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi is unlikely to take off. In the policy note for this financial year released by highways minister Aadhav Arjuna on Tuesday, the project was not mentioned in the spillover works from previous years.Projects such as the ₹621 crore Anna Salai flyover, Chennai Peripheral Ring Road, Chennai-Kanniyakumari industrial corridor were all mentioned in the spillover works, including grade separators in Avadi, Kundrathur, Korattur, and Vanagaram.“If the project isn’t mentioned in the policy note, it is unlikely to take off. They’ve formed an expert committee but are yet to appoint members. A notice to stop the work temporarily has been issued to the contractor,” an official said.“The govt has already announced a Chennai-Puducherry sea-link corridor. So, this small bit won’t be required,” the official said.The ECR project was put on hold immediately after chief minister C Joseph Vijay made remarks in Karur that a highways project in the city was tendered out for double the cost.The ₹2,100-crore, 13km Thiruvanmiyur-Uthandi elevated corridor was conceived in a HAM model where the contractor will pay 60% and the govt pays 40%. “The contractor has availed a loan and has mobilised machinery. Some officials are concerned about arbitration. We’ve to see what the expert committee says,” the official said.Aadhav Arjuna, meanwhile, during the PWD and Highways grants, said the highways dept will release a white paper soon. “We retendered 20 works from the previous govt and they are seeing bids lower than project value by 20% to 36%,” he said.
