Baripada: Massive encroachments have come in the way of expansion work of NH-5 from Balasore-Mayurbhanj border up to Jharpokharia. The NHAI has been carrying out the upgradation and expansion of the NH.
It was alleged that expansion work got stuck at some places as the district administration and the NHAI do not have proper coordination to remove encroachments along the NH.
Encroachments have caused problem for NH expansion at Dargadihi in Baripada. The PWD is supposed to clear encroachment, but nothing has been done yet, it was alleged.
Prashant Panda, executive engineer of the Baripada PWD division, said encroachments will be evicted soon.
It may be noted here that the expansion of Jharpokharia-Baripada-Balasore section of National Highway 5 (NH-5) under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase IV is being carried out at a cost of Rs 761 crore.
The cost includes land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road will be approximately 80.6 km.
The project is expected to reduce the time and cost of travel, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Jharpokharia, Baripada and Balasore. It will also provide better connectivity for some of the upcoming minor ports that are being built across the coast in Balasore district.
The Baripada-Balasore road stretch is intercepted by two major National Highways namely NH-6 (Kolkata-Mumbai route) at the starting point and NH-60 at the endpoint.