KRISHNAGIRI: Thanks to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s swift action, a 30-year dream of the people of Hosur is all set to materialise with the government allotting funds for the long-pending 100-feet Inner Ring Road Project, originally proposed by former TN Chief Minister the late MG Ramachandran.The State government has allocated a sum of Rs 13 crore for the project and the Highways Department has assured the CM’s special cell that the work would be taken up immediately after obtaining the technical sanction. The move comes after a memorandum in this regard was sent to the CM’s cell by Jeejababy Jayaramiah, ex-State Congress executive committee member and former president of Krishnagiri District Mahila Congress last year. Within four days of receiving the memorandum, the CM’s cell forwarded it to the Highways Department for action. According to sources in the Highways Department, the government issued an order (GO No.132) on November 11, 2011, allocating Rs 13 crore in two components. Under the first component, the government has allotted Rs 9.50 crore to develop the roads and connect bridges, while another Rs 3.5 crore has been allotted to meet the land acquisition cost. Jeejababy thanked Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on behalf of the people of Hosur for the speedy action. The project was proposed by MGR, when he visited Hosur to inaugurate the Ashok Leyland unit in 1977. Every day, about 50,000 heavy and light commercial vehicles from north India enter Tamil Nadu through Hosur. The project was aimed at enabling the vehicles to proceed directly to other parts of the State, bypassing Hosur. Initially, the project cost stood at Rs 79.20 lakh when the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) took it up in 1986-87. But the NHAI discontinued the work and laid a mud road and built a few bridges. After this, the project cost doubled to Rs 194.32 lakh, as per a revised estimate in 1993. Meanwhile, due to the rising cost of construction materials, the contractor opted out of the project, which was then handed over to the State Highways department.The issue was highlighted by Express, in its November 3, 2009, edition, following which the government began work in 2010. However, work was completed only on a 4-km stretch from the ESI hospital to Thally Road with an administrative sanction of Rs 6 crore under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP). The remaining stretch of 4.8-km was ignored. After the AIADMK took over the reins of the State, hopes revived among the people of Hosur that the project would be completed as it was proposed by the party’s founder MGR.
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