A lawyer, who has a good knowledge of the project, he said, “The project is meant only for heavy vehicles to reach Chennai from Salem. What is the need to spend Rs 10,000 crore of the taxpayer’s money for a scheme which is highly questionable?”.

He explained, “There are five ways to reach Chennai from Salem and the congestion points are Sriperumbudur on the Chennai-Bangalore national highway and Chengalpattu on the Chennai-Trichy national highway. If these two points are widened with more roads to the city from both locations, the proposed project is totally unnecessary.”

He said that the entire stretch will have a 15 feet highwall to ensure that people .or animals do not enter and hinder traffic. “The highway will have only 22 road crossings in the 221 kilometre stretch which means a villager will have to travel 10 kilometres to cross the road. Similarly, there will be only 5 entry points for people to enter the highway from areas alongside which means locals will have to spend more for fuel to do this,” he noted.

“Similarly, while two wheelers are exempted from toll at the NH toll plazas now, they will have to pay to use this road,” states Abiraman. Vehicles using the highway will have to pay a fee at the rate of Rs 3.75 per kilometer which would amount to Rs 1658 for a two way trip between Chennai and Salem.

When asked how the government reacted to his opposition, he said “We have word that the government will resort to arrests to quell opposition. But ultimately what matters is the people and they – especially those affected by the project – are with us.”