NHAI to de-entrust Madhavaram-Nallur stretch of Chennai-Tada NH-OxBig News Network

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is likely to hand over a 10.400-km long stretch of the NH5, the Chennai – Tada Highway, which is part of Chennai – Kolkata NH (now NH16), to the State government. Since the stretch from Madhavaram junction to the Nallur plaza is urbanised and has a lot of local traffic, it will not be appropriate for it to remain a national highway.  

Sources in the NHAI explained that the 10.400-km long road is more suitable to be an arterial city road, which is why they have taken steps to de-entrust this portion and hand it over to the State. “We have written to our headquarters seeking sanction for this move and are awaiting clearance. But in the meanwhile, we will be re-laying the surface so that the asset will be in good condition when it is handed over. Tenders will be evaluated and awarded soon for this work,” explained an official.

Meanwhile, motorists and truckers wanted to know the status of a proposed elevated corridor in this stretch. “It has been several years since the announcement. The State government had also granted some waiver from its portion of GST towards constructing the facility. If the flyover is not being constructed by the NHAI, the State government must take efforts to construct it as the road is very congested and sometimes crossing particular junctions take over half an hour,” said Ambattur resident R. Raghunathan.

This is not the first time that the NHAI is handing over a highly urbanised stretch back to the State Highways department. A 22-km long urbanised stretch of Chennai – Tiruttani NH from Padi to Thirunindravur too was handed by the authority to the State government.

“The road was handed over in 2013 but till date it remains with varied widths, incomplete drains, insufficient lighting and lacking footpaths, causing accidents. Thousands of residents and industries and commercial establishments are suffering due to this extremely slow-paced work,” said consumer activist T. Sadagopan.