• The cabinet decided on Thursday to put the Uthandi elevated corridor project on hold.
• The move is pending a report.
• The feed says this follows chief minister C. Joseph Vijay’s announcement days earlier about cancelling a Chennai project.

• Residents of VGP layout in Uthandi and fisherfolk from Nainarkuppam want the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to reject a proposed 1.05-km cut-and-cover flood drain by the Water Resources Department (WRD).
• Estimated cost: Rs 91 crore.
• Purpose: reduce flooding in low-lying areas around Pallikaranai marsh by increasing discharge capacity of Buckingham Canal (B Canal).
• Current peak outflow from the marsh: 8,560 cusecs.
• Outflow through Okkiyam Madavu reaches the B-canal, which can handle only 7,063 cusecs.
• Proposed underground macro-drain length: 1,050 m, from the B-canal to the Bay of Bengal at Uthandi.
• Expected additional discharge capacity: 550 cusecs.
• Citizens say the WRD’s CRZ application mentions only CRZ-II norms and omits CRZ-IA and CRZ-IV classifications.
• The proposed sea outfall is identified as an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site and lies in ecologically sensitive CRZ-IA.
• WRD said the B-canal had 365 sewage outfalls in 2022 and 10 more by 2024.
• CUBE (IIT and Tamil Nadu government) testing found faecal coliform at 1,600 MPN/100 ml, 16 times the permissible limit, and biochemical oxygen demand at 26.5 mg/l, nearly nine times the standard.
• Residents say the project would release 550 cusecs of sewage-mixed outflow, equal to about 78 tanker loads per minute, onto the beach, and that there is no treatment provision at present.
• They also say the discharge could affect aquifer recharge in Uthandi’s sandy, porous terrain, contaminate groundwater, reduce natural percolation, and make drinking water salty.
• WRD cited silt buildup, tidal surges during cyclones, and encroachments as reasons for the canal’s reduced discharge capacity; residents urged it to address those instead.
• Nainarkuppam’s shore seine fishing community, within 500 m of the outfall, says polluted water could damage nearshore ecosystems and reduce fish availability, affecting livelihoods.
• Preliminary work began last year, but the project is currently suspended because it has not received CRZ approval.

• Chief Minister M.K. Stalin laid the foundation stone for the 13 km Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi elevated corridor in Chennai.
• Estimated project cost: Rs 2,100 crore.
• Travel time between Thiruvanmiyur and Uthandi is expected to fall from one hour to 10 minutes after completion.
• Legal hurdles were cleared after the Madras High Court disposed of Dilip Buildcon Ltd’s petition against award of the contract to KNR Construction Ltd.
• Tamil Nadu State Highways Authority (Tansha), formed in 2024 to implement PPP road projects, will execute the project.
• The project was announced in the 2025-26 Assembly budget.
• Alignment: from ECR-Lattice bridge junction in Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi.
• Design: four lanes, 17.25 metres wide, 5.5 metres high; some sections will be expanded to six lanes.
• Junctions to be improved: Akkarai, Neelankarai and Lattice bridge road.
• Facilities include road sign boards, reflecting studs, noise prevention walls and LED lights.
• The stretch has about 1.1 lakh users and around 69,000 vehicles on the 15 km Thiruvanmiyur-Uthandi section.
• There are 17 traffic signal junctions and 347 minor roads connecting to ECR on both sides.
• Road expansion also includes stormwater drains on both sides, each 5 feet wide, and a central median 4 feet wide.
• A roundabout will be built at Akkarai to connect ECR with Old Mahabalipuram Road.
• The corridor will have five entry and exit points: LB Road junction, Thiruvanmiyur RTO, Neelankarai, Injambakkam and Akkarai.
• The road serves IT companies, educational institutions, hospitals, hotels, commercial establishments, residents, IT workers and students, and is used by people moving in and out of Chennai.

Tamil Nadu’s 2026–27 Highways and Minor Ports policy note, published on 18 August, omits the proposed four-lane elevated corridor from Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi, while retaining other works including the ₹621-crore Teynampet–Saidapet corridor. The ECR project had been tendered under reference 02/TANSHA/ECR-EC/2025; KNR Mahabalipuram Infra Private Limited signed a Hybrid Annuity Mode concession agreement with TANSHA on 26 February 2026. KNR described its bid cost as ₹2,163 crore, with 1,095 days of construction and five years of operation from commercial operation date; these are not state expenditure already incurred.

Dilip Buildcon challenged the tender evaluation in the Madras High Court. Dilip Buildcon, M. Venkata Rao Infra Projects and Bekem Infra Projects were classed non-responsive; KNR, NCC and Navayuga were responsive. The corridor was put on hold pending a technical committee review; a temporary stop notice has reportedly been issued, but committee members have not been appointed. A proposed coastal connection from Ennore through Mamallapuram towards Puducherry is at an earlier stage.

Separately, the policy note retains six-laning of 6.60 km of ECR through Neelankarai, Injambakkam and Sholinganallur, costing ₹165.22 crore.