Chennai mega city project, a brainchild of chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, is gaining momentum and the city corporation has finalised projects that would be taken up for Rs 420 crore. The state government provided Rs 330 crore last year to improve the recently-expanded Chennai areas and tender works have begun for the second phase of the pilot project aimed at improving the capital city with a few world-class facilities like grid roads with ducts and planned footpaths. Inclusion of new heavy vehicles, costing Rs 42 crore, and creation of 100 new parks are on the cards, corporation sources said.
Corporation commissioner D. Karthikeyan told DC that road works for Rs 366 crore will commence once monsoon is over. And to improve sanitation in the expanded areas, six new garbage transfer stations will come up at a cost of Rs 16 crore. And on the infrastructure front, feasibility studies to construct flyovers at six major traffic intersections are currently under way and a few flyover projects are under active consideration, the commissioner said.
Under the first two phases of the Chennai mega project, so far, the government has earmarked over Rs 700 crore, besides there are also other routine development projects carried out by the city corporation. With the government backing the Chennai corporation, funding is not a constraint and the expanded areas will witness changes by 2013, a senior corporation official assured.