The Union minister assured that he would pursue early clearance of the project with the finance ministry
Union minister Venkaiah Naidu visiting the flood affected areas with BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan and others in Kotturpuram on Sunday. (Photo: DC)
Chennai: The Union urban development ministry has approved phase-I extension of the Chennai Metro Rail from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar in north Chennai. The project has been sent to Public Investment Board (Ministry of Finance) for clearance, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister for urban development, said in Chennai Sunday.
The Union minister assured that he would pursue early clearance of the project with the finance ministry.
Talking to reporters after meeting Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa at the state Secretariat Sunday, Mr Venkaiah said, “I told (Chief Minister) it has been approved by me a few days ago.
I told her that I will take it up with the Finance Ministry for its early clearance.” He was reacting to Jayalalithaa’s plea on the early clearance of the 9.051 km project. The Rs 3,770-crore project partly runs underground from Washermenpet to Korukkupet and then continues as an elevated corridor till Wimco Nagar.
CMRL has already commenced the work to identify the areas for land acquisition and roads which have to be widened before the work begins. The phase I extension project was mooted several years ago and received the state government’s approval in 2010 after soil tests were completed.
During the meeting, Jayalalithaa pointed out that during floods a large number of passengers used the Metro apart from buses of the State Transport Corporation. It is therefore necessary to expand and improve the services of public transportation including the Metro Rail system in Chennai.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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