The Madras High Court on Monday quashed the land acquisition proceedings for the Rs 10,000-crore Chennai-Salem expressway project that hit the headlines following strong resentment by the farmers, political parties and NGOs. A division bench of justice TS Sivagnanam and justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan cancelled the land acquisition announcement for the project, acting on a bunch of writ petitions that challenged the notification issued under the provisions of the National Highways Act, 1956, proposing to acquire lands for the eight-lane highway. The project is part of the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’, a project conceived by the central government.
The bench said that the NHAI’s projection about the benefits of the proposed highway appears to be illusory. The financial consequences were not analysed by the consultant. The state government had in last May issued a notification and started acquiring lands for the project, evoking strong protests by the farmers. Pattalai Makkal Katchi (PMK), now aligned with BJP and AIADMK for Lok Sabha polls, and others had filed cases in the high court against the road project.
