The Madras High Court has dismissed a batch of 40 petitions challenging the land acquisition for the Mass Rapid Transit System project here, clearing an eight-year-old roadblock in completion of the final 500 metres of the Velachery-St Thomas Mount extension.
However, the court said the petitioners were free to pursue the remedy available to them under the Right to Fair Compensation Act if they were not happy with the compensation awarded for their land.
The project, which covers a distance of 5 km, will provide a link to suburban and metro rail services to commuters in the city.
About 98 per cent of the work covering a distance of 4.5 km has been completed, and what remains is about 0.5 km. The acquisition of private lands for the incomplete portion was challenged in the petitions.
Dismissing the petitions, Justice N Seshasayee said, "This controversy is not unfamiliar to this court, neither are the petitioners new visitors in its corridors."
The judge also said as a result, "a dispute that ought to have concluded at least three years ago has become a nursery for litigations. The issue started when the Tamil Nadu government issued a G.O (government order) in connection with the project in 2010. Since then, a number of pleas have been moved challenging the acquisition process."