BERHAMPUR: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has no proposal in near future for six-laning of 41-km Puintola-Ichhapur stretch along Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border in Ganjam district. This was stated during a meeting on land acquisition and eviction of encroachments held here recently.
In 2016, the district administration had proposed that the NHAI should expand the stretch from four lane to six-lane and construct service roads and flyovers at seven places. Later, the NHAI authorities conducted a survey and submitted a detailed project report (DPR) to the Central Government for its approval, but to no avail. The stretch used to witness traffic congestion due to the movement of heavy vehicles.
Meanwhile, the portion was transferred from the jurisdiction of NHAI’s Bhubaneswar Division to Visakhapatnam Division last year. However, a 15-km stretch from Puintola Chowk to Narayani Chowk remained under Bhubaneswar Division, sources said.
Deputy Collector (Revenue) Dibyalochan Mahanta said, “NHAI has no proposal to convert the stretch into six-lane from Puintola to Ichhapur. Hence, there was no discussion on land acquisition for it during the district level meeting, he added. Mahanta, however, expressed his inability to mention the reason about the NHAI’s decision to drop the proposal.
Sources said five companies, including Grasim Chemicals, are running their plants in Ganjam town which face traffic problems daily. Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu had also demanded immediate widening of NH stretch from Puintola to Girisola during his recent meeting with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.