more-in The city will get six new flyovers to ease traffic congestion in the city and three of them will come up in the ever growing southern suburbs. Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday announced in the Assembly that the Highways Department will construct flyovers at four important junctions in the city —Madipakkam, Kundrathur, Madambakkam and Korattur. A flyover connecting Vadapalani with Ashok Pillar, covering a distance of 1.7 km on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai was also announced. Already the Chennai Metro Rail is running along the route. It is not clear if the flyover would run above the existing elevated corridor or in a different alignment. The flyovers would be constructed at an estimated cost of ?380 crore, said the Chief Minister setting aside ?2.05 crore for preparing the detailed project reports in the first year indicating that these projects could take years to complete. Korattur resident K. Latha said a flyover in their junction would be very helpful despite having the Padi flyover since the CTH Road is not wide enough. “It would be good if the road is also widened, properly lit and has enough pedestrian space since it is a very busy road that carries very heavy traffic,” she said. Another on Mount Poonamallee Road from the MIOT Hospital junction to Mugaliwakkam junction and will cost ?214 crore. The length of the flyover would be 2 km and would cross at least four traffic signals. He set aside an amount of ?1 crore for preparing the detailed project report. Four-lane road on ECR The Chief Minister sanctioned ?24 crore for the construction of a four-lane bridge at Ilayanarkuppam on the East Coast Road in Kancheepuram district. Among the announcements to rejuvenate lakes and create new water bodies, there is not much for the city but ?25 crore has been allocated for restoration of Velachery lake. S. Kumararajah, vice president, Federation of Velachery Welfare Association said, “Restoration of the lake has been discussed for the past 15 years and a new proposal is devised every time the regime changes. However, there has been little improvement except for removal of vegetation, street lights and a walkers path laid along the lake.” Residents like him want the announcements to be executed properly. Residents in the northern parts of the city felt that funds could have been allotted for repair of existing check dams. For instance, the Korattur anaicut across Cooum river and the check dam in Thirukandalam, Tiruvallur district across Kosasthalaiyar river that were damaged during 2015 floods are yet to be repaired, they pointed out. Funds have also been sanctioned to repair bridges that were damaged during the 2015 floods. Oragadam to Walajahpet road would be converted into six lane at a cost of ?138 crore.

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