DMK president M.K. Stalin on Saturday condemned the Centre for a plea filed in Supreme Court seeking early hearing of an appeal challenging Madras High Court verdict quashing the land acquisition for the Chennai-Salem expressway project.
In a statement, Mr. Stalin said that the government hastening up the project, instead of focusing on reviving the economy and bringing things back to normal at the time of COVID-19 pandemic, is disappointing and shocking.
He also slammed the State Environment Minister K.C.Karuppannan for his remarks that the project work would be taken up, even before the apex court verdict.
The Centre and the State should drop their plan of implementing the project and make a transparent announcement in this regard, he said.
The Central and State governments should hold consultations with farmers and people and find an alternative way to implement the project without impacting the environment, Mr. Stalin said.
If this is not possible, they should focus on improving the existing road infrastructure, he added.
“There are so many works which needs to be completed and focused on. The Central and the State governments should stop treating Chennai-Salem project as a priority,” Mr. Stalin said.