Drop Chennai-Salem green corridor expressway project: DMK MPs

SALEM: Three DMK MPs on Monday urged the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government either to drop the Chennai-Salem green corridor expressway project or to find an alternative route for the project which won’t affect farmers.
MPs S R Parthiban (Salem), Dr S Senthil Kumar (Dharmapuri), P Gowthama Sigamani (Kallakurichi) submitted a petition to Salem district collector S A Raman regarding this issue.
Later, addressing the media, Parthiban said farmers in Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, and Kancheepuram districts would be affected by the project.
“We don’t have any objection if the same road project commences without affecting farmers,” he said, adding that, the Centre and the state government should look for an alternative route.
He also appealed to the district collector to prepare a detailed project explaining farmers' plight and requested the submission of the report to the central government through the state government.
Senthil Kumar said the state government was set to procure land in the Dharmapuri district.
“Nearly 16 village panchayats had passed resolutions opposing this project,” he said.
Citing a similar issue in Kerala, the MP said, the state government had given up a beverage manufacturing plant project after a village panchayat had passed a resolution opposing the project.
“Both the Centre and the state government were keen on bringing this road project through the proposed route even after 16 village panchayats passed the resolution,” he added.
Kallakurichi MP Gowthama Sigamani said the central government should drop the Rs 10,000crore project as the country is fighting Covid-19.