Reinstate Thapalpetti station: PIL

CHENNAI: Demanding reinstatement of Thapalpetti Metro station in Corridor 3 of Phase 2 Metro Rail construction in Madhavaram, the members of Palaniappa Nagar civic association filed a petition at the Madras High Court on February 22.

The court during the hearing on February 27 sought the response from Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) officials for dropping the Metro station from the original Detailed Project Report (DPR), a press release by the association said. According to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by residents, the CMRL deleted the proposed station from the original DPR without giving any proper reasons or explanations.

“Madhavaram residents were delighted about the original plan (with Thapalpetti metro station) as it was earmarked in the main junction. But CMRL citing less footfall in the area is an unconvincing claim,” they said.

The residents alleged that despite media reports, protests and verbal and written requests from the residents, neither the Union nor State government paid any attention to them. However, they noted that the court, during the hearing of the case, sought petitioners to issue notice to the concerned department and officials, before the next hearing. “The fight is for a genuine cause of public interest and the future of youth, who mostly work in the IT sector, and we strongly believe that the legal route is the only option to force CMRL back into their original plan,” said a member of the association.“Metro project is for the future generation, and we can’t ignore the actions that deny opportunities for them,” he added.