Chennai: The 9.3 km-long Tambaram Eastern Bypass project, intended to ease traffic congestion in the Tambaram area, has been stalled due to delays in land transfer proposals between the Revenue and Forest Departments. The bypass begins at the Madambakkam junction on Irumbuliyur Road near the Maraimalai Adigal Bridge and ends at GST Road in Perungalathur. The project was undertaken in several phases, and the section from Madambakkam to the Vandalur forest area has already been completed as a six-lane road. However, the remaining 0.78 km falls within the reserve forest area near Vandalur and Nedungundram. The Highways Department applied to the Forest Department on August 21, 2023, seeking permission to proceed with the work.
Officials stated that approximately 4.46 hectares of forest land is required for the project. According to regulations, the Forest Department must provide forest land as compensation. On June 3, 2022, a proposal was sent to the Chengalpattu District Administration, seeking the identification and allocation of land. Initially, the District Administration recommended that the Forest Department be given land equivalent to twice the land area as compensation. Stage-I approval for forest relocation was received on August 27, 2024, and an application for Stage-II approval was subsequently submitted through the Parivesh portal. Subsequently, based on the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on November 29, 2023, under the Forest (Conservation and Conservation) Act, 1980, the Chengalpattu Collector recommended on September 5 last year that instead of double the land area for relocation, land equivalent to the forest area being relocated could be given as compensation for forest relocation. Following this, the Highways Department wrote to the District Forest Officer of the Chennai Division on September 9, 2025, asking for corrections to the Parivesh portal, where the diversion was recorded as double the amount—8.92 hectares—instead of 4.46 hectares. In its communication, the department stated that the correction was applied for through Form ‘H’ in the portal and requested that 4.46 hectares of non-forest land in survey numbers 96/1 and 96/4 in Vedhanarayanapuram village in Chengalpattu be accepted as compensation land. Officials also stated that the work for the bypass between km 8.080 and km 8.775 had already been tendered, but could not be started due to pending approvals. Highways Department sources said that new proposals from the district administration have not yet been sent to the Commissioner of Land Administration and are still pending. Proposals to transfer forest land in the Chengalpattu Revenue Department to the Highway Department and revenue land to the Forest Department have also not progressed. Sources said that due to the delay in land transfer, the contractor will seek compensation from the Highway Department for the increased cost. This delay has stalled work on the last section of the bypass, forcing motorists to use congested roads in the Tambaram area.
CHENNAI: Delay in land transfer stalls Tambaram East bypass work
