Chennai Metro Rail to resume work between Sholinganallur and SIPCOT

As part of the Rs 618.43 billion phase II project, three corridors ? Madhavaram to SIPCOT (corridor 3), Light House to Poonamallee (corridor 4), and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (corridor 5) ? were in various stages of construction.

Corridor 3 not only covered the northern parts of the city but also ran through a substantial part of the OMR, from Taramani to SIPCOT. Although work had started sometime back between Sholinganallur and SIPCOT, it had come to a halt later because one of the subcontractors' contracts had been terminated for various reasons.

Officials of Chennai Metro Rail CMRL) indicated that the new subcontractor engaged to carry out work along this stretch had held a small ceremony a few days earlier before beginning the piling work, and full-fledged construction would commence shortly. They mentioned expecting more equipment like piling rigs to arrive in the next few days and acknowledged that it would take some time for the work to gain momentum but did not foresee any issues like those in underground stretches.

While on a major part of the stretch, the piling work had already begun, there had been barely any progress near SIPCOT. Officials stated that the subcontractor would simultaneously focus on both areas, resuming the pile cap work where piling had started and starting the piling work towards SIPCOT.

The disruption in construction work along this stretch had resulted in a delay of about 3-4 months. Officials noted that the new contractor could make up for the lost time to some extent, though some delay was still expected. They assured that they were trying their best to minimize it.