BHUBANESWAR: The Centre on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that four tribal districts of Odisha - Gajapati, Malkangiri, Kandhamal and Rayagada - together have about 641 km of national highways (NHs), even as concerns were raised over poor connectivity and delays in road projects.
Responding to a question by BJD MP Sasmit Patra, Union minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said Odisha has a total of around 5,872 km of national highways spread across all 30 districts. Of this, approximately 156 km pass through Gajapati, 143 km Malkangiri, 233 km Kandhamal and 109 km through Rayagada.
Patra asked whether the government was aware that these districts continue to suffer from poor national and state highway connectivity and sought details of projects sanctioned, delayed or stalled in the last two years.
In his written reply, Gadkari said the development of NHs is undertaken based on traffic demand, connectivity needs, regional development priorities and the existing network. However, the minister acknowledged that delays in land acquisition and forest clearances have impacted the pace of execution of certain projects, leading to time overruns. He clarified that fund constraints or non-availability of funds have not contributed to slow progress or cost escalation.