Finance minister D Jayakumar.

 

CHENNAI: Road infrastructure is set to get a fillip in the city, as the state government on Thursday allocated Rs 400 crore under the Chennai Mega City Development Mission (CMCDM) in its budget 2017-2018. This fund has been provided separately for completion of spillover work under this scheme, said finance minister D Jayakumar in the Tamil Nadu assembly in his maiden budget. Cities selected under Smart City Mission, including corporation of Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur and Vellore, have received Rs 1,200cr -an increase from last year's allocation. In Chennai, the centre's initiative will be implemented in T Nagar.

Since the CMCDM scheme's launch in 2011 after the expansion of the city, the state government has allotted Rs 500 crore which the Greater Chennai Corporation and Metrowater shared to carry out work on roads, pavements, bus shelters, street lights, drinking water, sewerage networks, sanitation and storm water drains. Over the last five years, the corporation has extensively used these funds to spruce up roads in bitumen and concrete in extended areas of the city such as in Madhavaram, Perungudi and Alandur.

 

Top corporation officials view this as an opportunity to continue to concentrate in the outlying areas. "We have used more than Rs 1,400 crore under this scheme over the last five years to primarily concentrate on interior roads newly added areas," said a senior official. "There is still a lot of road work left to be completed in residential neighbourhoods." The official said that among the recently re-laid 194 high-quality bus route roads which have withstood monsoon rains, 149 roads were laid using Rs 322 crore from this scheme. "We will barely have less than a dozen arterial roads that require relaying. Most of them are in good condition so we may add pavements," the official said.