BHUBANESWAR: Land acquisition for the coastal highway and capital region ring road (CRRR) projects are likely to start soon as Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan took stock of these projects on Sunday.
Chairing a meeting with senior officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Pradhan directed them for expeditious implementation of the projects.
While the coastal highway project has been proposed under the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana plan, the CRRR would reduce traffic congestion in major towns along National Highway-16. Both the projects have received state government approval.
“After the state government nod, we have sent both the projects for approval of the land acquisition (LA) committee of the NHAI. Following approval of the LA committee, we will write to the concerned district collectors to start land acquisition. We hope to get LA committee’s approval for CRRR project next month,” said a senior NHAI official who was part of the meeting.
The 112-km capital region ring road project will connect Rameswar in Khurda district to Tangi in Cuttack via Govindpur in Dhenkanal, bypassing major towns like Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Athagarh, Cuttack and Choudwar, said an official source. The road will be developed as a 6-lane carriageway and around Rs 2,500 crore will be spent on it.
As the state government has recently cleared the coastal highway project after years of deadlock over its alignment (proposed path), Pradhan, during the review, asked officials to expedite its implementation as it will provide impetus to the socio-economic growth of the state and create thousands of employment opportunities.
Pradhan also reviewed status of the proposed 300-km economic corridor project from Paradip to Barbil that is aimed to ensure seamless road connectivity between the mining hinterlands of the state and Paradip port. The project, which will be developed as a eight-lane road, was proposed during a meeting between chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, last February.
Even though Pradhan heads the education ministry, he has been playing crucial role in facilitating Centre’s approval for key infrastructure projects in Odisha including coastal highway and capital region ring road by coordinating with various ministries at the Centre since 2014.
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