Chennai-Salem Expressway
Chennai-Salem Expressway
Brief Summary of project:-
environmentclearance.nic.in/writereaddata/Online/TOR/23_Apr_2018_122339170AH37GS2LProjectBrief_Summary.pdf
The project feasibility report of the proposed Chennai-Salem highway contains plagiarised content and irrelevant information that is provided merely to fill pages for essential chapters. If the project is as important as it is made out to be, then, reliable, scientific and data-based information must be put out in the public domain.
The project feasibility report of the proposed Chennai-Salem highway contains plagiarised content and irrelevant information that is provided merely to fill pages for essential chapters. If the project is as important as it is made out to be, then, reliable, scientific and data-based information must be put out in the public domain.
The government of Tamil Nadu seems to have taken a zero-tolerance approach towards those critical of the 8-lane access controlled Salem Chennai Greenfield Highway project. Let alone protesting the project, even questioning or discussing the worth of the project seems to have been criminalised.
In the last month alone, the state police has harassed land owners along the alignment of the proposed Highway. They have been warned against associating with people opposed to the project or entertaining any opinions critical of the project. Social activists like Piyush Manush and Valarmathi and cine artist Mansoor Ali Khan have been arrested for opposing the project and for highlighting the dangers posed by it. On June 20, a hall meeting organised for farmers by the All India Kisan Sabha in Tiruvannamalai was disrupted by the police. Scores of organisers were arbitrarily taken to the police station for questioning and later released. Barricades were put up to prevent farmers from reaching the meeting hall. The police has become the only public face of the government.
The state’s overreactions come less than a month after the police-inflicted violence in Thoothukudi. That is sinister; it suggests that the state is intent in positing a dangerous new normal – where people’s constitutional rights to move freely, to choose who to associate with and to form and voice opinions now have to be mediated through the police department and the courts of law.
The 8-lane highway is a mega-project. At Rs 10,000 crore, the estimated cost of the 277-km long road is significantly higher than the plan allotment for the entire state in 2016-2017. Large projects have large impacts, both positive and negative. While positive impacts generally affect the general public, the negatives more often than not are localised.
At this point, there is nothing in the public domain that scientifically spells out the costs and benefits of the proposed project. The only public document – the Project Feasibility Report (PFR) – does not make a case for the project’s viability, nor does it justify the costs.
Entire sections of the PFR contain poorly disguised plagiarised content and irrelevant information that is provided merely to fill pages for essential chapters. Fudging the feasibility of a government-funded project like this one and making a risky project appear viable can potentially have disastrous financial consequences for the exchequer and tax payers.
Take the case of the International Container Terminal and port proposed to be constructed in Enayam, Kanyakumari district. The feasibility report for the project claimed that the local people welcomed the project as they saw it contributing positively to their lives. However, in October 2017, two years after announcing the project, the project proponent had to abandon the project due to intense opposition by local fisherfolk.
The Salem Chennai Highway is repeating the mistake of underplaying public sentiment against the project without even attempting to assess it.
In countries where the rule of law matters, plagiarism and fudging of feasibility reports results in prosecution of the consultants that prepare such reports and public agencies that act on the reports without verifying their content.

Tamil nadu: Chennai-Thiruvanamalai-Harur-Salem Expressway Project. Credit: Facebook/Smart Salem
What ought to be versus what is
A PFR assesses the feasibility of a proposal by evaluating its technical and economical viability. By virtue of their implications on the cost and desirability of a project, environmental and social assessments become integral components of such feasibility assessments.
A social assessment is expected to evaluate the social risks of the project in terms of its social impacts and its acceptability among the project-affected persons. Public consultation is key to a robust assessment.
Indeed, for the 8-lane Highway, the PFR prepared by Feedback Infra Pvt Ltd notes that the scope of work includes: “Public consultation, including consultation with communities located along the road, NGOs working in the area, other stakeholders and relevant government departments at all the different stages of assignment (such as inception, feasibility, preliminary design and final design).”
The consulting firm claims to have completed public consultation. It claims that “the consultations were carried out with both individuals and groups during the screening survey involving local people, health workers and administrators. During the consultation, the issue regarding HIV/AIDS has been discussed with truck drivers and local people like awareness about disease, medium of propagation, information, preventive measures and use of contraceptives. The presence of infected persons, line of treatment, measure precautions and presence of commercial sex workers in the area have been asked during the consultation.”
What HIV/AIDS has to do with the concerns of farmers that stand to lose their land is anyone’s guess.
There’s more.
In evaluating social impacts, particular attention needs to be given to understanding the impacts on vulnerable population, like women. The ‘contents’ pages of the PFR would make it appear that the consultant has this covered. Section 11.7 of Chapter 11 is titled “Gender and Development.” But the entire section is four short paragraphs long. The responses to three questions contain only plagiarised content and baseless conclusions.
For instance, in response to the first question, the PFR claims that “The project will enhance the urban road network and public transit system which benefits women and men equally. The mobility of women in Xi’an is already very high and the Project will enhance the quality and frequency of transportation services in a safer manner.”
Xi’an is a city in Shaanxi province of China. It is commendable that the Salem-Chennai Highway will have positive impacts on the lives of women in places as far away as China. But the PFR would have more value if it also dealt with the implications of the road in Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Kancheepuram and Chennai. Even better if it had dealt with the merits of an 8-lane expressway rather than the urban road network and public transit system in China.
The second question is “Does the proposed project/program have the potential to promote gender equality and/or women’s empowerment by improving women’s access to and use of opportunities, services, resources, assets, and participation in decision making?” The PFR deals with this serious question with a one-line answer – “There is no serious gender equality or empowerment issues related to urban transport.”
After the hard work of finding answers to the first two questions, the consultant seems to have lost its stamina for the third. There is no answer to the question of whether the “proposed project [could] have an adverse impact on women and/or girls or to widen gender equality?”
The obviously farcical PFR with its sham public consultation ends with a section titled “Identification of Issues” which makes it seem as if people welcome the project, have some minor apprehensions and are eager to see the project completed in record time. For instance, the report claims that “Many people worried whether the work will be taken up due to political conflicts. The construction work should be taken up on an urgent basis, rather than conducting surveys again and again.”
Much ado about many things
The government of Tamil Nadu has entertained criticism of the project. It has branded as instigators people who attempt to educate people on their legal rights to demand information regarding the project and to take recourse to law to protect their rights.
High-speed, access controlled roads such as the Salem Chennai Highway will have significant negative impacts on the environment and local economies. They place a heavy demand on scarce local resources during construction, which in turn aggravate local environmental stress. Such roads require immense quantities of sand – the quantum required has not been specified. For the 8-lane project, sand is expected to be mined from Palayaseevaram in Palar River, Neeyadipakkam and Polur Vandavasi Road in Cheyyar River, and Bhavani village in Kaveri River.
Palayaseevaram is already a water-stressed village notorious for illegal sand mining and the rule of the mining mafia. Cheyyar and Bhavani are no different. At a time when NITI Aayog has warned Tamil Nadu of an imminent water crisis, activities that will cause further harm to our rivers and groundwater need to be discussed threadbare.

NITI Aayog has warned Tamil Nadu of an imminent water crisis. Credit: PTI/R. Senthil Kumar
The 286-page Feasibility Report devotes 183 pages to discussing aspects of road design to optimise smooth flow of traffic. There is no discussion on the design aspects that will also optimise the smooth flow of water. For instance, in Nattarasanpattu, Kancheepuram district, the road passes through two major tanks. Eight-lane expressways are no ordinary roads. They are built on elevated beds of mud and gravel and loom up like dams above the local contour. In November 2015, in the prelude to the Chennai floods, the regions around Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) were severely flooded. That was caused by the recently upgraded OMR, which blocked the eastward flow of rainwaters.
Along the 8-lane’s alignment, flooding may not be the issue as much of the land is agricultural or forest. Here, the issue is the alteration of the surface and groundwater regimes on either side of the road.
It is not only the road and its impacts, but also what the road will bring that is of concern to local people. For instance, the PFR elaborates on the expansion plans of Southern Iron & Steel Company Ltd (SISCOL) in Salem. It reports that SISCOL “aims to develop the Kanjamalai, Kavuthimalai and Vediappanmalai iron ore mines in Tamil Nadu on receipt of requisite approvals to improve raw material security.”
What is said and left unsaid in the feasibility report gives room for skepticism about the bonafide credentials of the project. The government of Tamil Nadu will do well to drop its hostile attitude towards any opinion that is contrary to theirs. The only project document that is in public domain contains fraudulent and unreliable information, and does not support the Government’s claim that the project is either viable or desirable.
If the project is as important as it is made out to be, then the rule of law must be respected. Reliable, scientific and data-based information must be put out in the public domain. The government must facilitate a civilised debate among stakeholders, and depute the police to deal with real criminals.
Vital statistics of 6/8-lane Access Controlled Salem Chennai Greenfield Highway
Project Proponent | National Highways Authority of India |
Project Length | 277 km |
Project Cost | Rs 10,000 crores |
Land Requirement | 2791 hectares |
Nature of Lands | Farmland, Forest, Residential, Poromboke commons |
Route | Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Thiruvannamalai, Kancheepuram, Chennai |
No. of Villages along Alignment: | 854 |
Access Points | 8 locations with toll booths |
Nityanand is a Chennai-based writer and social activist. (source:- the wire.in)
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Chinese town on Chennai-Salem greenfield highway path?
It can’t get more hilarious than this. Certain portions of the feasibility report on the proposed eight-lane Chennai-Salem greenfield highway project talk about enhancing public transit system in a China town!
In an apparent case of plagiarism, the consultant Feedback Infra Pvt Ltd has made a mockery of social impact assessment by allegedly cutting and pasting the contents of a Chinese road project report.
Read section 11.7 of Chapter 11 titled ‘Gender and Development’ in the Chennai-Salem highway project report; it contains only plagiarised content.
In response to the first question what are the key gender issues in the sector/subsector, which are likely to be relevant to this project, the report says,”The project will enhance the urban road network and public transit system which will benefit women and men equally. The mobility of women in Xi’an is already very high and the project will enhance the quality and frequency of transportation services in a safer manner.”
(Xi’an is a city in Shaanxi province of China).
(Xi’an is a city in Shaanxi province of China).
Feedback Infra Pvt Ltd has not responded to calls or emails sent by Express. Project Director PT Mohan of the National Highway Authority of India was also not available for comments. Environmental activist Nityanand Jayaraman said this was appalling and showed how seriously they took the social impact assessment. The Union Environment Ministry has issued terms of reference (ToR) to the NHAI for conducting the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), based on this fudged document.
Not only this, Jayaraman said the consulting firm had claimed to have completed the public consultation.
The firm has claimed, “The consultations were carried out with both individuals and groups during the screening survey involving local people, health workers and administrators. During the consultation, the issues regarding HIV/AIDS have been discussed with truck drivers and local people such as awareness about disease, medium of propagation, information, preventive measures, use of contraceptives. The presence of infected persons, line of treatment, precautions and presence of commercial sex workers in the area have been discussed at the consultation.”
Jayaraman asked what HIV/AIDS has to do with the concerns of farmers who stand to lose their land on account of this greenfield corridor project. The project feasibility report has also proposed to allocate `20 lakh for HIV/AIDS awareness. Moreover, there are several pages that have been duplicated just to increase the volume of the report. On page 271, under identification of issues, the report says, “Many people (are) worried, whether the work will be taken up due to political conflicts. The construction work should be taken up on urgent basis, rather than conducting survey again and again.” This, activists claim, is undermining the concept of public consultation while preparing the feasibility report.
Set up expert committee, says Stalin
Chennai: Expressing concern over the environmental impact of the proposed Salem-Chennai access-controlled eight-lane highway and the crackdown on protesters, DMK working president MK Stalin on Friday demanded setting up of an expert committee to explore the options to realign the facility.
“An expert committee should be formed to prepare a project to realign the Salem-Chennai green corridor or to evolve a plan to widen one of the existing roads”, he said in a release. He warned that if the government is bent upon implementing the project by troubling the people and taking away their farmlands, the DMK will hold peaceful protests in all the districts concerned.
source :- New indian Express
source :- New indian Express
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At a cost of Rs 10,000 crore, the corridor will shorten the travel distance between Salem and Chennai by merely 60 kms.
A ride on the undulating road over the long chain of hills south of Salem city is a feast to the eyes. Lush shady mango farms stretch before us endlessly. But the pleasant ride isn’t a happy one for the people here, who were recently confronted with the disturbing news that ‘development’ is not going to leave this verdant patch undisturbed.
The proposed eight-lane, 900-feet-wide Green Field Super Highway between Chennai and Salem is going to be laid through the villages and farms that give Salem the sobriquet "the mango capital”.
Designated as NH179A and NH179B, the corridor will measure 274.3 kms. Of this 250 kms will be along the Green Field and 24.3 kms will be aligned with the expanded existing highway. As per the project report submitted by the consultant, Feed Back Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the corridor will run 59 kms in Kanchipuram district, 122 kms in Thiruvanamalai district, 2 kms in Krishnagiri district, 53 kms in Dharmpuri district and 38.3 kms in Salem district. The proposed Green Field alignment cuts through 22 kms of reserve forest, besides a good measure across human habitations and agricultural fields, in the above districts.
At a cost of Rs 10,000 crore, the corridor will shorten the travel distance between Salem and Chennai by merely 60 kms, although the government claims the travel time will be halved.
The NHAI wants to fast-track the project implementation and has requested the Tamil Nadu government to also fast-track the land acquisition process. A total of 2,300 hectares of land is required to be acquired in the four districts.
Legacy of the grand old mango trees
“That big tree you see over there is one of the oldest British-era mango trees and it comes in the way of the so called Green Corridor,” says farmer M Ilangovan of Varagambadi, ruefully pointing to his neighbour Sekar’s farm. “It is a tree that has seen four generations and is likely to be 150 years old. Even my grandfather has not told us exactly its age, but it was once owned by an English man,” he adds.
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A lush shady mango grove that comes in the way of the proposed Green Field Corridor between Chennai and Salem.
Old mango trees branching out gregariously, with their tap roots descending six feet under and profusely spreading feeder roots, are a common sight in Vargambadi. With a crowning radius of 8 to 10 meters and growing above 60 feet, these long-lived trees produce a prolific yield of more than 1 ton.
“Their yield is equal to what the young trees of 40 to 50 years bear,” says Ilangovan’s father Murugesan. On each stem of their hundreds of branches, one can see bunches of 10 to 20 fruits hanging temptingly. Groves in Varagambadi, and the scores of villages nearby, are dotted with such grand old trees. Fruits shipped regularly from Varagambadi every summer once made their way to dining tables of the high and mighty in England, the sons of the soil say, taking pride in their history.

A century-old tree planted by the British stands till date, yielding over 1 ton of mangoes.
Rich soil, disappointed sons
Varagambadi is one of the many villages in Salem district known as the traditional mango belt of Salem, situated between the Jarugu Hills and Vethalaimalai (through which the Green Field Corridor would pass).
Understanding the unique soil chemistry, fertility and the hot tropical climate, Varagambadi and its neighbouring villages, and the erstwhile British and European residents of Salem, planted some rare varieties (the origins of the cultivators could not be traced easily). With the experiment being successful, mango groves proliferated in the region with Varagambadi and its nearby villages of Ayothipattinam and Valapadi blocks, becoming the prime mango belt.
Varagambadi’s Salem Gundu (Alphonso) and Nadusalai varieties have spread from farm to farm in the tropical belt of the composite Salem region (which include Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Senthamangalam in Namakkal) through grafts originating in Varagambadi. “Till date, researchers from horticulture centres across the country come here to study the Salem mangoes and the prolific yield from centuries-old trees,” says a government horticultural officer.
Kasi Raja, son of Arumgam Perumal, has just two of the original trees planted by the Englishmen left in his farm. “It was Foulkes Dorai (George Fredrick Fischer Foulkes, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Salem) who owned this farm before it passed hands to my grandfather Perumal,” says Kasi. “Foulkes brought some rare-variety saplings and planted them here, my father used to say. Though high-density cultivation of new varieties has caught up over the decades, many farmers stopped felling the old trees that had grown too unwieldy. New techniques had to be learnt to conserve them. Thus, we retained our signature taste, size, colour and our loyal patrons. Every summer, people from other districts and states come directly to the farms to buy choicest fruits. Thus, even without selling online, we are able to circumvent the middlemen and command a premium price,” he says.

Farmer A.Kasi Raja poses before his century old mango tree in Varagambadi
“If you want to test an authentic Varagambadi Gundu or Nadusalai, cut a slice and you will not find the liquid dripping from the fruit. The fleshy fruits are that dense. Apart from the unique taste (appreciated as heavenly by writers), and its appealing reddish yellow colour, what sets it apart is its high nutritive value compared to fruits grown in other areas in Salem,” says Kasi Raja.
Even as he goes on with the proud legacy, his voice suddenly dips and words of despair proceed. “This may be the last summer for our visitors to enjoy mango tourism. Our efforts and sacrifice seem to go futile. This big road they are taking about is going destroy this greenery. Sleeping under the shade of these trees is as heavenly as the taste of the mangoes. At the age of fifty, what will I do for a living if a major part of this 8-acre farm is taken over? Our entire family is worried” says Kasi.
Fear and anger
Ilangovan and Murugesan are also yet to reconcile to the reality of giving up the big trees in their farms, which they say figure in the survey numbers proposed for acquisition. Would it make any sense to resist giving up the land for the Green Field road project, they ask.
“What is the point in creating a Green Field road after wiping out the greenery?” asks Ilangovan’s wife, sounding shrill.
The issue is yet to take a political colour in this core mango belt. But farmers have started to raise their voice elsewhere. At Nilavarapatti, farmers disrupted the May 1st Grama Sabha proceedings. At Kuppanoor, the All India Kisan Maha Sabha is mobilising a farmer’s movement against the project. “We have hardly recovered from the worst drought last year, and this project is now coming as a final blow,” say farmer Kesavan.
Government unfazed
Meanwhile, the project is no more in the realm of political decision-making or administrative sanction process. The District Revenue Officer (DRO), who is the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA) in Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts has been appointed and the officer is yet to take charge. The Salem DRO R Sukumaran, who is officiating as an interim arrangement, has begun preliminary work. The NHAI has circulated the tentative alignment of the road, villages and the tentative survey numbers on WhatsApp to farmers. The survey numbers fall in two villages in Yercaud taluk, seven villages in Valapadi and 13 in Salem taluk. In the Salem section, the lands proposed to be taken over are spread over South Sheveroy, Jarugu Hills and Manjvadi Pass.
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Image: PTI. (Representative image)
Heritage mango belt areas like Skandhashram, Valadi Manthope, Pothukuttai, Erumapalayam, Panankadu, Thenmalai, Udayapatti, Varagambadi, Vellallakuntam, Vilampatti, K.Pallapatti, Kuppanur, Achangukuttapatti and other villages with prime mango groves, figure in the land takeover plan. Apart from the mango farming belt, reserve forest and small holdings of downtrodden communities and tribes are being eyed. Surveyors have started to make field markings on the lands proposed to be taken over, giving farmers jitters.
Asked about the justification for the drastic land use pattern change, DRO R Sukumaran says that civilisation once thrived around rivers and now it is gravitating near highways. Saying he would be receptive to any compensation claims if made individually by the affected persons, he makes it clear that ‘mobocracy’ and ‘politicisation’ will not be entertained. “Good compensation can be worked out for trees and land depending on present condition, usage and market value. Buildings and facilities will be compensated fairly. Capacity building with skill training for alternate employment will be carried out so that affected farmers may switch to alternate source of livelihood,” he says.
Mining lobby behind it, alleges activist
However, the issue is feeding hot debates on the social media. Questions like development for whom, did people of Salem ask for such a road, will the benefits trickle down to the classes or the masses, are being asked. An environmental group, which is rallying support for the farmers, is of the view that the project is not for Tamil Nadu or Salem, but for the corporate mining lobby which is vying for Salem's iron ore deposits in Kanjamalai. “The hidden corporate interest behind the Green Field road is thus inferred,” says A Chandramohan, State Convenor, All India Peoples Forum.
The Green Field alignment starts from Neikarapatti, a village in the foothills of Kanjamalmai, and runs all the way to the Ennore port off Chennai. Early British prospectors had abandoned mining operations after initial attempts, as the Salem iron ore was inferior. Although, the current level of mining technology is less labour-intensive and the mineral deposits will last for a few years. So, why destroy permanent resources for the fleeting lucre, ask environmentalists.
As the debate rages, Kasi Raja calls back with another forgotten part about Salem’s mango belt history. He says that a long time ago, Varagambadi and the neighbouring villages were dens of bootleggers. The area was barren and dry, with no means of livelihood. It was only after the British introduced mango farming, die-hard illicit arrack makers became avid horticulturalists, growing trees in their small holdings. “Will not the conditions that forced people into criminality a few generations back return?” he questions
Source:- thenewsminute
Source:- thenewsminute
More Information :-
In Tamil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89oubRwu7_w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxHhbSM2ako
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkxpo3H7Nqo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VziwSU4wF14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8SlE_p4u7U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXfvuNKxd0E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnH4rtYAP_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZkJKrtuY7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQmL3-rX8_k
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