Union Minister Dharmenrda Pradhan to lay foundation stone for the NH projects worth Rs 2067.5 cr today
Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will lay foundation stone for three projects of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) here Thursday.
Addressing media persons here Wednesday, NHAI Chief General Manager Ram Prasad Panda said the three projects of 119.5-km length will be constructed with an investment of Rs 2,067.5 crore.
The projects included 56.77-km long six laning of Bhubaneswar-Tangi (Rs 806.11 crore), six laning of 62.64-km long Bhadrak-Balasore section of NH-5 (Rs 999 crore) and construction of three Vehicular Under-Passes (VUPs) at Balikuda, Sikharpur and Badachana on Bhubaneswar-Chandikhole section of NH-5 at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. All the three projects would be completed within 30 months, Panda said.
On completion, the projects would ensure speedy movement of vehicles, particularly the mining and industrial traffic in exporting materials through ports on the eastern coast of the state like Paradip and Dhamra, reduce travel time, vehicle operating cost and boost employment generation.
The CGM said as of now Odisha has 31 NHs having a length of 5,628 km. Of this, 2,935 km is under the state Works department while 1,912 km is under NHAI and 781 km are yet to be entrusted.
He said out of 1,912 km entrusted to NHAI, 665 km has been completed. As many as 24 projects worth Rs 23,660 crore with a length of 1,560 km are under various stages of implementation.
Panda said 1,645 km of road projects worth Rs 30,000 crore has also been taken up under the Bharatmala project.
The projects included 415-km long Coastal Highway from Gopalpur to Digha (Rs 8,000 crore), 245-km Raipur-Visakhapatnam corridor (Rs 9,000 crore), 93-km Capital Region Ring Road (Rs 2,500), 62 km Jamujhadi-Dhamra (Rs 1,000 crore) and 800 km other projects under Bharatmala (Rs 9,500), the CGM said.
Asked as to when the ring road project will be completed, he said, “The project is now under DPR stage. The project will be taken up after finalisation of the DPR.”
Commenting on controversial coastal highway, the NHAI official said, the total project of 415-km length has been divided into nine packages, of which CRZ clearance has been sought for only one package, Panda said, adding, “The state government is objecting to Satapada-Puri (43 km) and Konark-Astarang (40 km) sections.”
“A Chief Secretary level meeting was held recently in this regard. The state government has made some suggestions on the alignment finalised by us. We have forwarded the state’s plea to our higher authorities. They will decide on that,” he added. The Regional Manager of NHAI also admitted that some existing roads are also coming under project.