Chennai: The Madras High Court on Monday quashed the land acquisition process for the Rs 10,000 crore Salem-Chennai eight-lane green corridor project, holding that it required a mega realignment as the proposed route would have an adverse effect on environment.
A special bench of Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Bhavani Subbarayan passed the order allowing a batch of petitions by 35 landowners and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss.
The bench observed that the project would have an adverse effect on the environment, water bodies and it needed a mega realignment.
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The court had, on December 14, 2018, reserved orders on the batch of petitions, challenging land acquisition proceedings.
The ambitious 277.3 km long, eight-lane, greenfield project connecting Salem and Chennai – under the Centre’s ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’ scheme – aims to cut travel time between the two cities by half, to about two hours and 15 minutes.
However, it has been facing opposition from a section of locals, including farmers, over the fear of losing their land. Environmentalists are also against the felling of trees for the project.