Fishermen protest hits work on Ennore bridge

Construction activities have affected fishing in the area, they say

Work on a bridge across the Ennore creek was stopped on Tuesday following a protest by fishermen in eight villages around Ennore.

The fisherfolk demanded the authorities provide jobs to compensate for the loss of their livelihood due to various construction activities across the creek.

According to the highways department, during the project period of two years, the fishermen had stopped work for over 30 days stating various reasons. 

“We pay them Rs. 6,000 a month and have spent close to Rs. 1.20 crore on their salaries alone. They are unskilled labourers and know nothing about civil engineering,” an official said.

The deadline for the Rs. 52-crore bridge has been pushed to mid-May from March-end due to frequent strikes by fishermen in the area. Only three spans remain to the completed on the bridge, which takes off at Ennore and goes up to Kuruvimedu near North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NTPS). 

The bridge is expected to reduce 24 km of travel for those going to areas including Minjur, NTPS, Nallur, Athipattu and Thiruvellavoyal.

Kalaivanan of Nettukuppam said water flow from the sea to the creek and vice versa had been affected due to the work. Fish breed in the estuary. Ever since work was taken up to construct a rail bridge, a coal conveyor, and most recently, the bridge across the creek, fishing activities in Kosasthalai river had been affected, he said. 

The fisherfolk demanded additional openings below the bridge under construction so that more water could pass freely. 

From  : http://www.thehindu.com

Tag : Fishermen protest, Ennore bridge, construction activities, fishing activities

Ennore - Manali project will miss June 3-deadline

With less than 100 days to go, the Ennore-Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP) is all set to miss its June 3 deadline due to slow pace of work.

Conceived about a decade ago, the Rs.600-crore project was meant to clear the congestion woes of the port. After a substantial delay, Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan laid the foundation stone in January 2011. Till date, the contractors have completed only 60 per cent of the project work. By June, about 70 per cent of work would be over.

According to the sources, the road widening work for nearly 2.1 km could not be taken up from ChPT zero gate to Kasimedu Fishing Harbour Police Station as there has been delay in resettlement and rehabilitation of a section of people residing in NTO Kuppam and Cherian Nagar. Besides, a private party is occupying a small portion of land at Kaladipet and had approached the court.

The stakeholders, including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and port users have approached Chief Secretary, Sheela Balakrishnan, who has agreed to hear their grievances on Friday (March 1).

“The initial enthusiasm shown by the Shipping Minister Mr. Vasan and former Assembly Speaker D. Jayakumar, who represents the Royapuram constituency, is missing. The contractor has slowed down the work. Pending works include installing medians on services road, signages and markings and road topping. The Collectors of Tiruvallur and Chennai Districts have to come forward to help us in relocating the tenants,” the stakeholders said.

Of the 1.6 km stretch from Zero Gate of the Port to Kasimedu Fishing Harbour Police Station, the NHAI and Tamil Nadu Road Development Company covered road widening and other works over one half of the stretch. But, the work came to a halt last week following objections from fishermenOn its part, an official of the NHAI said it had been seeking co-operation from all the stakeholders but “help is not forthcoming.” By June 3, the authority would hand over the project to the port, the official added.

 From : http://www.thehindu.com

Vandalur to Minjur Outer Ring Road

CMDA is planning the development of Outer Ring Road (ORR) along the periphery of Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) with the objective of relieving the congestion within the city and also for catalysing the even dispersal of urban growth.

ORR connects NH45 at Vandalur, NH4 at Nazarathpet, NH 205 at Nemilichery, NH5 at Nallur and TPP road at Minjur and is of length 62.0 km. The configuration of the alignment comprises of dual system of both road and rail corridor in a width of 72m. 50m. wide portion of land is reserved for future developments. The estimated project cost is about Rs.1081.40 crores.

Land Acquisition has been taken up in two phases. The first phase of land Acquisition from NH 45 to NH 205 for a length of 29.2 km. covering 29 villages has been completed and possession taken over by CMDA. The second phase of acquisition from NH 205 to TPP Road covering 27 villages is under progress.

The Government in G.O.Ms.No.200, Highways & Minor Ports (HF2) Dept., dt.08.10.09 have approved the revised administrative sanction for the implementation of the first phase of the ORR from NH 45 (Vandalur) to NH 205 (Nemilichery) for a distance of about 30 km, facilitating six lane traffic at a cost of Rs.1081.40 cr. under BOT-Annuity basis. The Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) has been appointed as the Managing Associate for the project to monitor and co-ordinate the implementation of the project on behalf of Government of Tamil Nadu. The work has been awarded to M/s GMR Chennai Outer Ring Road Private Ltd., for executing the project in two and half years. Execution of the project had since commenced.

From : http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in

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