CHENNAI: The Chennai Metro Rail is examining the concerns raised by a sub-committee of the Heritage Conservation Committee constituted by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority over the impact its underground stations will have on heritage buildings.“Minor modifications are suggested and the metro rail is examining it,” highly-placed sources in Metro Rail said.Interestingly, the sub-committee has opposed some of the structures of the proposed underground Metro stations after reviewing the designs for the stations near the High Court, Central Station and Mannadi. It claims that the vents and entrance porches of the stations are close to heritage sites, which include the Dr Ambedkar Government Law College, Ripon Building, Victoria Public Hall and the Tamil Wesley Church.To a query on whether the Metro Rail is reconsidering the proposal to acquire 3.94 acres from the Pachaiyappa's College campus for a railway station, the sources said that the whole issue was being discussed with the government.“We will take a call after discussions with the government,” a source said. Interestingly, there had been protests by the students, teachers and green activists, as well, demanding that the proposal be dropped or the station relocated, as the 150-year-old institution has a large number of rare species of plants with medicinal value and serves as a carbon sink of the area.It is also believed that talks are in the final stages over the acquisition of market land in Koyambedu. It is expected that 25 shops may be affected and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority will be relocating them. “We will be acquiring land near the corner of the market. Once the shops are relocated, the land will be acquired,” he said. Land acquisition in other areas by Metro Rail is also on and would be over by the end of this year.
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