Berhampur: Former deputy speaker of state Assembly Rama Chandra Panda has held the Union Environment Ministry responsible for the delay in construction of proposed coastal highway from Gopalpur in Ganjam district to Brahmagiriin Puri district.
The Centre has delayed the construction of a 5-km long bridge between Jahnikuda and Satapada, Panda alleged. This is another example of negligence of the Centre towards Odisha, he added demanding immediate environmental clearance to the project. He also said to have drawn the attention of the Chief Minister towards the delay in implementation of the project.
Panda made these charges against the Centre at a press conference held in the Silk City. He said that in the past, plans were made for construction of a coastal highway from Gopalpur in Ganjam district to Digha in West Bengal via Chilika lake in Odisha.
He said that the project, when implemented, will reduce the distance to Puri by 70 km for the pilgrims from southern Odisha districts and the districts in north Andhra Pradesh visiting the holy
city.
The project will also usher in tourism boost for beaches of South Odisha apart from Chilika lake.
Lakhs of fishermen and farmers residing in over 200 villages from 35 panchayats of Khallikote, Ganjam, Krushnaprasad and Brahmagiri blocks will be immensely benefitted with the implementation of the project.
The plan included construction of a 5-km bridge from Jahnikuda to Satapada. Later, the coastal area
of Ganjam district was excluded in design of the bridge. On the other hand, the Ministry of Environment has raised objections to construction of a bridge in the middle of Chilika lake. This has put on hold the construction of a bridge in between Jahnikuda and Satapada, said Panda as he demanded before the Centre to reconsider its plan.
Panda further said that he met the Union Roads and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in 2015
and submitted a memorandum to him demanding immediate grant of environmental clearance to Gopalpur-Brahmagiri coastal highway project.
He was accompanied by some eminent personalities of the area during his meeting with the Union minister. Since then, seven years have passed but no step has been taken so far to implement the project pushing it to cold storage.
-PNN