BHUBANESWAR: The land acquisition process for the ecologically-sensitive 7.65-km national highway connectivity project across Chilika lagoon has begun, with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issuing a Gazette notification. The project is being implemented by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
According to the notification, 19.59 hectare of land will be acquired in Satpada village under Brahmagiri tehsil and Berhampur, Parala and Janhikuda villages under Krushna Prasad tehsil in Puri district. The land will be used for the construction, widening, maintenance and management of the proposed 7.655-km road stretch.
The proposed alignment begins at NH-316 near Satpada, connects Berhampur, Janhikuda, Khairasahi, Patanasi and Golpur villages, and terminates at NH-516A in Krushna Prasad block of Puri district.
Of the total project length, around 3.34 km will comprise bridges. The project will require approximately 34 hectare of land, including 12.75 hectare of forest land in Chilika. The alignment passes around 8 km from Nalabana Wildlife Sanctuary, while a 3.4-km stretch falls within the draft 10-km eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) boundary. The road will also pass through Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)-I(B).
The NHAI has maintained that the project will provide last-mile connectivity between Janhikuda and Satpada, reducing the road distance between the two locations to around 5.5 km from the existing 238-km route via NH-16, NH-316A and NH-516A. It has also claimed that the project will reduce the distance between Berhampur and Puri by 135 km.
Environmentalists, however, have demanded that the project be scrapped, citing ecological concerns and the potential threat to the biodiversity of Chilika, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon.
In February last year, an expert panel conducted a one-day site inspection following recommendations by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The EAC had flagged environmental concerns over the proposed bridge and called for a cost-benefit analysis of the project, estimated to cost around `526.08 crore.
The notification states that anyone who owns or has a legal interest in the land proposed to be acquired can file objections within 21 days of publication of the notification. The objections must be submitted to the sub-collector, Puri, who will hear the objectors, conduct an inquiry and decide whether to accept or reject them.