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Journalism of Courage
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has completed four years as the DMK president, a mantle that he assumed on August 28, 2018 following his father M Karunanidhi’s demise.
At the helm of the government as well as the party, Stalin has now been bracing for some formidable challenges as his regime looks to undertake a number of major development and infrastructure projects, which include those rolled out by the previous AIADMK government that he used to be up against as the then Opposition leader in view of public protests.
On the list of the big-ticket projects to be implemented by the DMK-led government is the 277.300 km long 8-lane highway project that proposes to connect the state capital, Chennai, with Salem in western Tamil Nadu. The cost of the project, which passes through Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, and Salem districts, was estimated at Rs 9,106 crore. An estimate of the cost for rehabilitation and resettlement of affected people due to this project has been worked out to the tune of Rs 415 crore.
The Chennai-Salem highway project, launched by the previous AIADMK government, touched off public protests as the government allegedly failed to take land-owners and the affected people in confidence. As public mistrust grew against it over massive land acquisitions and serious corruption charges, the then principal Opposition DMK also threw its weight behind the protesters seeking to stall the project.
A measure of trouble awaiting the DMK dispensation was seen a couple of days ago, when the state highways minister, E V Velu, claimed that his party had never taken a stand against the Chennai-Salem highway project. He said the DMK has not been against the 8-lane highway and that the party-led government will go ahead with the project after resolving the grievances of farmers, who feared land acquisition. “We are not against the highway project… We were never against it,” said Velu, a known confidant of CM Stalin.
As Velu’s statement set off a row, a senior DMK leader, admitting that it was “inappropriate”, said the ambitious highway project is likely to be executed despite protests. “There are many important factors involved here including central funds. We cannot antagonise people too, but it may be one project that DMK will try to implement,” he said.
The DMK leader also said the party has already held discussions about the possible resolution of some of the problems plaguing the project, including methods such as “land pooling” implemented in Andhra Pradesh’s Amaravati, whereby land owners voluntarily hand over their lands to the government, the government goes ahead with the development project following whose completion a smaller portion of the developed land is returned to the original occupants.
The Stalin government has also been facing protests over its proposal to build Chennai’s second airport project at Kancheepuram. The government however reckons that it would not be a tough task for it to push this project through despite protests from a small section of farmers from 12 villages that come under the project area.
A section of farmers from the state’s delta region have also warned the Stalin government against reviving the controversial hydrocarbon project initiated by the AIADMK regime, which was then stalled due to their protests backed by the DMK and other Opposition parties.
Although government sources claim ignorance about any move to revive the hydrocarbon project, P R Pandian, the head of a confederation of the state’s farmer unions, said such efforts were launched by local revenue officials early this month. “Two wells were being dug at Periyakudi near Thiruvarur many years after they abandoned the plan. This happened even after the entire delta region was declared as a protected zone. It appeared to be a move against CM Stalin’s promise. If they are planning to go ahead, we will launch protests,” he said.
While calling Velu’s remarks favouring the Chennai-Salem highway project “inappropriate”, the DMK leadership is bracing to deal with a slew of pending development and infrastructure projects in the coming months, several of whom are in their early stages.
While there are some plans to convert the 8-lane Chennai-Salem highway into a 6-lane project to reduce the levels of land acquisition and cost, some other major projects in various states of planning and implementation by the Stalin government include the development of a sea link road between the Chennai port and the Manali Road-Tiruvottiyur junction, an elevated highway between Tamabaram and Chengalpattu, the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal double-decker expressway and similar traffic decongestion projects being mooted for Madurai and Coimbatore, a 15-km elevated route between Trichy and Thuvakudi, and the widening of two-lane Coimbatore bypass road to four lanes.
