BHUBANESWAR: Even after four years of signing the concession agreement with two private construction companies for expansion of Panikoili-Rajamunda National Highway, land acquisition for the project is still on.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) declared the 269 km stretch from Panikoili-Rimuli-Rajamunda as NH-215 in 1999 and in 2003 it decided on four-laning of the highway.
The NHAI floated tenders in July 2010 for four-laning of the highway in two phases __ Panikoili to Rimuli (163 km) and Rimuli to Rajamunda (106 km) __ after a gap of seven years.
The project, which was initially estimated to cost Rs 1,662 crore, was later revised to Rs 1,996 crore. The Central agency signed a concession agreement with Sai Maa Tarini Toll Way Ltd in August 2010 for construction of the Panikoili-Rimuli section of the NH.
The contract for the Rimuli-Rajamunda section was awarded to Orissa Expressway Pvt Ltd in July 2010 under built-own-operate mode. The project cost was estimated at Rs 586 crore.
Responding to a query from Sanatan Mahakhud (Ind), Rural Development Minister Badrinarayan Patra told the Assembly that land acquisition and forest diversion process is still on.
The NHAI has set a target to complete the four-laning of the Panikoili-Rimuli section by October while the Rimuli-Rajamuda section is expected to be over by 2016-end.
The NH project is considered to be the economic lifeline of the mineral-rich Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts. Four-laning of the NH-215 includes a proposal for construction of by-pass roads at Jajpur Road, Anandpur, Ghatagaon, Keonjhar, Jhumpura, Koida, K Balanga and Lahunipara through which the highway passes.
The Central agency required 1,629 hectares of land for four-laning of the NH and construction of by-pass roads. Even construction of the proposed by-pass roads could not be taken up due to land problem, official sources said.
The project has failed to achieve desired result even after several reviews by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of the major road projects undertaken by NHAI in the State.
Sources said the delay in land acquisition is mainly due to shortage of staff.