Environmental nod for Chennai-Salem highway project under

The Madras High Court was today informed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that the environmental clearance for the Chennai-Salem eight-lane project was under process.

In a counter filed in response to a PIL, the NHAI, project implementation unit of Kancheepuram, said in order to get environmental clearance it had submitted an application to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The Expert Appraisal Committee, under the ministry, during its 189th meeting held on May 7 had recommended grant of terms of reference (TOR) with certain specific conditions in addition to the Standard TOR.

TORs address sector specific issues relating to environmental impact assessment studies.

Besides, the principal chief conservator of forests had on June 8 granted permission for collection of necessary data and for conducting surveys in forest areas, as the alignment passed through the reserve forest for a length of 9.955 km.

The field survey was in progress and the proposal would be sent to the forest department to get permission for the diversion of the forest land, it added.

The counter also noted that the proposed project would reduce the travel time between Chennai and Salem to two and a half hours.

Several petitions challenging the Rs 10,000-crore project, were filed in the high court.

Some quarters, including a section of farmers whose lands would be acquired for the project, had opposed it.