The continuing delay in acquiring land by the state government for the proposed bio-medical treatment facility to be set up by Chennai based Healing Mediaids, has made the facility a non starter. According to T. Rajamani, Project Director, Healing Mediaids, though the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had identified Melakotiyur on the Vandalur-Kelambakkam stretch, some 30 kms away from the city limits, as the ideal site for setting up the biomedical treatment facility, the state government has still to initiate the measures to acquire the land at the newly identified site.

"We were told about the change in the site to set up the biomedical facility. We agreed upon the same but still the state government has to acquire the land at the identified site. The TNPCB has written to us that the proposal has been forwarded to the state government but so far there has been no measures taken to acquire the required land," Rajamani told Pharmbiz.com.

Sources in TNPCB confirmed that the corporation had put forward the proposal to the state government, which still had to take measures to acquire the land.

The site at Melakotiyur was one of the three identified by the TNPCB after it refused to give clearance to the project by the private company at Navalur citing pollution hazard to the information technology corridor, viz, Tharamani to Siruseri. The site at Navalur belonged to the company and had already gone ahead with the project when the TNPCB objected to the same citing pollution hazard to the information technology corridor. TNPCB agreed to identify a new site for the project. After identifying three suitable sites, it zeroed on Melakotiyur.

"We can commence work on the project only if the state government acquires the land and gives us the permission to go ahead. This has not happened so far and inevitably there will be a delay in setting up and commissioning the project," Rajamani added, claiming further "once we are given the land it will take a month or month and a half to commission the project."

What could further hinder the progress of the facility is the fact that TNPCB still has to decide whether the land acquired will be given to the company on outright purchase or on lease basis.