BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday blamed the State Government for delay in construction of a second bridge over Brahmani river near Panposh in Sundargarh district.
Reacting strongly to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s assertion that the State Government will construct the bridge from its own resources if the Centre is not serious about the project, Pradhan said the delay is not due to the apathy of the Union Government but because of delay in granting statutory clearances and land acquisition for the project.
Instead of shedding crocodile tears for the delay in construction of the river bridge project, the Chief Minister should ensure that his Government does its duty by extending necessary assistance to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Pradhan said in a series of tweets.
Accusing the Chief Minister of hiding facts to cover up his Government’s inefficieny, the Union Minister said the NHAI is yet to get forest clearance for the project despite complying with all official norms of the Forest Department. The divisional forest officers of Bonai and Deogarh are seeking more and more clarifications from the central agency from time to time which is not only time consuming but delaying the process for granting necessary clearances.
Alleging that several National Highway projects sanctioned for the State are languishing due to delay in land acquisition and grant of statutory clearances, Pradhan said this is despite the fact that the NHAI chairman has been hammering the State Government for providing required assistance in a time bound manner.
Recalling the letter of the NHAI chairman to the State’s Chief Secretary in July 2017, the Union Minister said the former had expressed concern over the delay in land acquisition for some NH projects for which the central agency had deposited the money.