Chennai: Despite Tamil Nadu contributing to Centre through its ports and toll plaza collections, the state has been neglected in the past three years and no major projects like the grade separators and the port connectivity has come up in the state, a senior state official said.
Minor projects completed in the recent past include strengthening of Chennai — Kolkata Highways and the Chennai Mumbai already part of the golden quadrilateral projects launched way back during the days former PM Vajpayee.
Despite Union minister Pon Radhakrishan reviewing the Chennai elevated port connectivity project the bridgework a joint venture between the centre and state is kept pending. Initially the state was blamed, but now two years have passed with the state extending full support to the Centre, but the central projects are not kick starting in the state. For instance the ministry of highways and shipping had taken up seven major port connectivity projects but of the seven, the project in Tamil Nadu is kept pending since 2011.
Under the development of adequate road connectivity to Chennai-Ennore Port connectivity again only a stretch of 8. 1 kilometre has been completed and the other project Chennai Port - Maduravoyal connectivity is hanging in balance, the official said.
When contacted a senior official at the national highways headquarters at Delhi about the slow pace of projects in TN, an informed official said that a lot of connective projects to the Golden Quadrilateral are progressing in TN.
To a query on the port connectivity project, the official insisted to contact the state and local NHAI authorities for the inordinate delay. According to NHAI sources ten bidders have been technical qualified for the abandoned project last month and tenders are to be finalised shortly.
