VIjayakanth's marriage hall to face the bulldozer

Chennai, Nov 6 (UNI) Actor politician Vijayakanth's 'Andal Azhagar Marriage Hall' on Poonamallee High road is to be demolished and will make way for a flyover at Koyambedu junction.

The prime property is all set to be brought down as the 'alternate sketch' provided on behalf of the actor-politician was rejected by the Indian Road Congress (IRC), Union Minister for Road Transport, Shipping and Highways T R Baalu said today.

There were rumours that the marriage hall would be spared after Mr Vijayakanth called on DMK President M Karunanidhi, prior to the May Assembly elections, but since then, things have changed a lot.

Giving details of the acquisition process, Mr Baalu, talking to newspersons here, said Mr Vijayakanth initially did not object when his Ministry issued the 'intention to acquire' notice in August 2005.

When the Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO) followed up the notice and issued a notification under 3(G) of the National Highways Act, calling for documents, a lawyer appeared on behalf of Mr Vijayakanth and submitted a sketch under which the marriage hall could be saved.

However, the sketch was found technically not feasible and was not as per IRC standards, he said and gave enough indication that the structure would be brought down for building the fly-over to ease traffic congestion on the busy Poonamallee high road.

When specifically asked whether the marriage hall would be demolished, he said it would be one of the 168 buildings that would pave the way for free traffic movement.

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