Tenders to Be Floated Soon for ₹1,600 Crore Marakkanam–Puducherry ECR Expansion

The delay in the long-awaited widening of the Marakkanam–Puducherry stretch of the East Coast Road (ECR) will finally come to an end with tenders likely to be floated shortly for the 46-km stretch to be upgraded.

The four-lane highway with service roads on both sides will develop the existing road into a four-lane highway at an estimated cost of ₹1,600 crore. The stretch runs through the eco-sensitive zone of the Kazhuveli wetlands bird sanctuary, which led the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to deposit ₹3.6 crore with the Forest Department for mitigation measures.

Mitigation work will be undertaken to plant trees to create nesting spaces for birds, and tall green buffers will also be built to absorb noise from vehicles running along the adjacent road towards Kampung Bukit Gasing, and near the sanctuary itself. As the existing highway is being widened within a regulated zone, the project has been exempted from further wildlife clearance, NHAI sources said.

It is also acquiring land. The bid will be for a 3.6-hectare tract facing the Forest Research Station at Agaram. It will pass along the existing road for 11 km before turning at Koonimedu and joining the Villupuram highway near Aliyur.

Alternative plots to compensate for the forest land on which the projects are to be located have been identified in Dindigul and Villupuram districts. The land in Dindigul will be drawn out from a forest land bank that exists already, and in Villupuram, degraded forest lands will be repurposed.

Work on the ECR, an important coastal corridor, is currently being widened in stages. Work is underway beyond Mamallapuram with the stretch from Puducherry to Nagapattinam almost complete.

The segment between Marakkanam and Puducherry is important to decongest and promote tourist and cargo movement along Tamil Nadu’s coastal stretch. After tenders are awarded and work starts, faster, safer and more scenic travel along one of South India’s most frequented coastal roads could be the near-future reality in the region.