Govt will denotify Anna Salai, bars in star hotels, liquor shops may reopen

CHENNAI: The state government is close to denotifying Anna Salai as a highway , which will allow bars attached to star hotels and liquor outlets to reopen after a Supreme Court order closed liquor outlets and bars within 500m of state and national highways from April 1.
Clubs and star hotels on a 30km stretch between Muthuswamy Bridge and Tambaram had to shut down because Anna Salai, after Tambaram, is an extension of NH45 within the city.
The denotification, official sources said, is likely in a couple of days. Sources in the hospitality industry privy to developments said the file on denotification is under consideration of the highest authorities in the government.
“We are given to understand that the government plans to downgrade the highway [from the city] till Chengalpet,“ a source said. The development follows the West Bengal government's downgrading of 278km of state highways that are within municipal limits. This allowed the reopening of closed liquor shops in that state 10 days ago.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials said the state govern ment has the power to change the status of highways whose maintenance is its responsibility.
Noting that the section of NH45 till Tambaram on GST Road from the city is under the highways' purview, a senior NHAI official said, “It will, however, remain status quo for the tollway between Tambaram and Chengalpet as the government cannot take control of the section till November 2019 under the build operate and transfer model under which the authority constructed the road.The [Tambaram-Chengalpet] stretch will remain a national highway for at least a few more years.“
Senior corporation officials said that they have not received any order or communication on the issue so far. However, if the government denotifies state highways, their technical classification will be local or major district roads under corporation jurisdiction.
Experts say if the corporation gains control of several roads it could benefit road users but it will be a burden on the civic body .
The state highways department will be hands-off on these roads once they are within corporation limits, a former official said.