Reinstate Thapalpetti Metro: Residents protest near Chennai Collectorate

CHENNAI: Demanding reinstatement of Thapalpetti metro station in Corridor 3 of Phase 2 Metro rail construction in Madhavaram, the residents staged a protest near Chennai Collector office here on Saturday.

The residents, for the past several months, have been demanding to reinstate the Thapalpetti station, which was earlier proposed in the original Detailed Project Report (DPR).

However, citing several reasons from cost cutting to feasibility, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) dropped the station from the DPR.

The residents alleged that the proposed station will cater to more footfall as opposed to claims made by the CMRL officials.

In the protest held on Saturday, nearly 400 residents of Palaniappa Nagar, KKR Garden, KKR Town, Kannapuram, Sakthi Towers, VRD Nagar, Pukhraj Nagar, Roja Nagar, Sakaya Nagar and other adjacent residential colonies detailed the need to reinstate the station and submitted a petition to the Collector.

Meanwhile, the members of Palaniappa Nagar civic association have also filed a petition at the Madras High Court in February.

Some of the reasons stated by the CMRL to drop the station include: low footfall in the region, cost cutting, less distance between two stations and curvature in the route, forcing it for realignment.

Speaking to DT NEXT, M John Nicholas, resident of KKR Garden who filed the petition said, "The reasons claimed by CMRL for dropping the Thapalpetti metro station are unconvincing. There are over 30,000 families residing within 250 metres of Thapalpetti station, which is one of the many reasons to reinstate the station."

Meanwhile, TR Suresh Kumar, resident of Palaniappa Nagar pointed out the curvature reason cited by the CMRL to drop the station from the original alignment.

“In Corridor 3, areas like Otteri, Pattalam, Kellys, Gemini and Thousand Lights have deeper curvature than Thapalpetti. If those stations are feasible for construction, why not Thapalpetti?" he asked

He further went on to add that Murari hospital and Madhavaram Palpannai metro stations will only have one-tenth of footfall as compared to Thapalpetti Metro station.