Chennai: Major infra projects launched in last 3 years stuck in a limbo – Times of India

CHENNAI: As the city’s residents get ready to vote in a mayor and members of Greater Chennai Corporation’s council, one of the key concerns will be that several projects launched by the civic body in the past three years including bridges, storm water drains and roads have either been dropped or stalled for years.

In 2020, the corporation came up with a grandiose announcement of a pedestrian plaza project on North Chennai’s busy MC Road and released creative 3D designs on how the 200-metre stretch would look after being turned into a ‘walking-only’ area. It never took off. “There are some underground sewage lines that need to be shifted and the replacement cost was not in our project estimates. So it is being delayed,” said chief engineer S Rajendran.

Of the 15 grade separators planned at an estimated Rs1,505 crore including a massive six-lane structure at Basin Bridge, only the ones at T Nagar, Ganeshapuram in Vyasarpadi and Otteri are set to see the light of day.
In at least five places where grade separators were planned, Chennai Metro Rail Ltd’s phase-2 work collided. “We may have to wait until 2026 till the metro project is over,” Rajendran added.
A majority of the corporation engineers are not on election duty, but the Rs3,220 crore integrated Kosasthalaiyar River basin storm water drain project is going at a tardy pace because, as officials say, “the tender period is for 36 months and they is still time. ”
Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam, says the civic body focuses more on announcing and awarding tenders. “There was no planning and execution for many projects. They also did not look at whether a scheme was necessary or not. ”
A recent audit has found that half of the 47 water bodies proposed for restoration at Rs107 crore, were not restored at all, while the rest were shoddily restored, he says. “The civic must actively engage residents in project planning and execution. This will also help them
monitor the progress effectively. ”
The ambitious linking of Santhome and Broken Bridge never took off and bigger projects like the one on Mega Streets remain as announcements. In 2020, the corporation announced it would set up 1,500 ‘smart toilets’ fitted with Wi-FI and surrounded by food courts and electric vehicle charging stations. It also roped in Sign Tech Urban Infra Furniture, but this too remains on paper.
Corporation officials from the specific departments don’t have answers on why many projects were dropped/ stalled, with many blaming their predecessors in the post. Chief engineer Rajendran said some projects like the T Nagar skywalk, built at a cost of Rs30 crore, were now progressing fast after being delayed due to Covid-19.