Tamil Nadu Highways Department Merges Four Wings into Single C&M Division

The Tamil Nadu Highways Department has recently completed a major administrative restructuring, merging four of its key wings into a single Construction and Maintenance (C&M) wing. This newly consolidated wing is divided into four regional divisions, including a major division in Chennai that oversees the city's existing two divisions alongside surrounding districts. The restructuring aims to reduce communication delays, decrease travel time for engineers, and ensure the timely completion of crucial infrastructure projects.

Under the new system, the merged wings include Construction and Maintenance, Projects, NABARD and Rural Roads, and the Metro Wing. These wings are responsible for constructing bridges, flyovers, grade separators, foot overbridges, subways, drains, and culverts, as well as the formation, widening, and maintenance of roads. The reorganized C&M wing will be led by four Chief Engineers heading the Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchi, and Coimbatore divisions.

The Chennai Division covers several districts, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Ranipet, Villupuram, and Tiruvannamalai. As part of the restructuring, new divisions have been created in Gummidipoondi, Polur, and Tindivanam. The Gummidipoondi division was carved out by dividing the Tiruvallur district. Chennai itself will retain its two existing divisions.

According to official sources, the core administrative setup will remain the same, with Divisional Engineers continuing to head the respective geographical divisions. While the total number of posts within the department remains unchanged, the reallocation of personnel has significantly increased the supportive staff available to the divisional engineers.

The Director-General of Highways, who was previously in charge of administrative and establishment matters, will now hold overall control of the reorganized department. This administrative restructuring has been modeled after the organizational framework of the Public Works Department.

Other specialized divisions within the department will continue to operate without changes. These include the National Highways, the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project, the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company, the Highways Research Station, the Chennai-Kanniyakumari Industrial Corridor Project, and the recently established Tamil Nadu State Highways Authority.