Both projects were lying idle for several years due to the delay in the transfer of Defence land. Considered to be one of the vital road projects to ease congestion in the city, it was hampered by the inordinate delay in transfer of land. The Tiruchy Junction Road Over Bridge (ROB), including seven arms with a high-level rotary with over four arms, was expected to be completed last year. However, it was delayed due to land transfer. Similarly, defence land policy requires the department to hand over its land for the exchange of equal value land suitable to the local authorities and thus, it delayed the runway expansion for the international airport here. 

On Friday, when Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited Tiruchy, ministers Vellamandi N Natarajan and S Valarmathi handed over a petition in which they appealed to the Centre to hand over the defence land for infrastructure development in the city.