HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday questioned the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials for raising new doubts whenever an issue related to construction of the northern part of the Regional Ring Road (RRR) is resolved.
During a review meeting on construction of national highways, and permissions and approvals for new proposals he had with the officials of NHAI, Ministry of Highways and Road Transport, Roads & Buildings and Forest departments at the Secretariat here, the chief minister suggested that the officials send all their doubts and queries at once.
The NHAI officials then informed the CM that they have already discussed the issues and they will bring to the notice of the government the doubts, if any.
The chief minister, meanwhile, urged the NHAI officials to immediately grant permissions for both north and south parts of the RRR project and to cooperate in starting both the works simultaneously.
The NHAI officials expressed their willingness to accept his request for immediately granting approval for RRR south alignment.
During the meeting, the chief minister also suggested that the NHAI officials immediately grant permission for the Bharat Future City-Amaravati-Machilipatnam 12-lane greenfield highway.
Stating that the government plans to develop a dry port, logistics and industrial parks in Bharat Future City, he said that the greenfield highway will connect the two capital cities of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “The greenfield highway will also reduce the distance between Hyderabad and Vijaywada by 70 km and generate more revenue than any other national highway in the country,” he said.
Noting that construction of a greenfield highway between two states was assured under the AP Reorganisation Act, the chief minister said that required permissions should be given under PM Gatishakti or any other scheme, along with the finalisation of the alignment. The state government also requested that a railway line between Bengaluru-Shamshabad Airport-Amaravati, parallel to greenfield highway, be sanctioned, which the CM said will be suitable for running trains, including Vande Bharat services, to earn profits,
Stating that land acquisition should be taken up with a humane approach, Revanth instructed the district collectors to explain the benefits of road development to the farmers during land acquisition process and resolve arbitration cases quickly.
He asked officials to stop delaying the works citing minor issues and to expedite the land acquisition process, ensuring compensation is provided the affected immediately.
FOREST CLEARANCE FOR NAT’L HIGHWAYS
During a review meeting on complaints lodged by the Forest and Environment department on construction of national highways, Forest South Region IG Trinath Kumar informed the chief minister that forest and environment regulations were violated in many areas from 2002 to 2022 and permissions are not being given at present. Expressing his displeasure, Revanth said that officers who worked in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh were no longer working and ordered the chief secretary to submit details regarding the violations. He also said that alternative land will be given for forest development wherever necessary. “If necessary, I will personally meet Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister of Forest and Environment Bhupender Yadav in this regard,” he said.
The chief minister said that the Wildlife Act is being implemented even in forest areas where there is no wildlife. The officials brought to the notice of the CM that permissions are being delayed due to the lack of any provision in the NHAI for wildlife mitigation plans in non-wildlife areas. Revanth said that the government was ready to bear the costs in this regard and advised PCCF C Suvarna to complete the forest clearance process at the earliest. Responding to the NHAI officials’ request to allocate two acres of land in Hyderabad for construction of their office, Revanth instructed the officials to find a suitable piece of land and start the process.
APPROVAL SOUGHT FOR ELEVATED CORRIDOR ON HYD-SRISAILAM ROUTE
Reviewing the status of pending highways, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy sought immediate approval for the elevated corridor between Raviryal and Mannanur on the Hyderabad-Srisailam route. Since a large number of devotees from Hyderabad visit Srisailam temple, Srisailam reservoir and tiger reserve forest regularly, he instructed the NHAI officials to immediately grant necessary approvals for the elevated corridor and take steps to start the work immediately.
Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao was ordered to take immediate action to resolve the case pending in the NGT regarding the removal of Banyan trees on Hyderabad-Manneguda road. The NHAI was also requested to approve the new Hyderabad-Manchiryal-Nagpur road.
The proposed route will help in the establishment of new industrial parks and connect national highways. In a video conference with district collectors, the CM enquired about the delay in land acquisition and payment of compensation for the Manchiryal-Warangal-Khammam-Vijayawada National Highway (NH-163G), Armur-Jagityal-Manchiryal (NH-63), Jagityal-Karimnagar (NH-563), and Mahabubnagar-Marikal-Deosugur (NH-167) roads.
The collectors brought to the notice of CM that court cases were pending in many places. The CM instructed the chief secretary to prepare a report on all the cases pending in the districts, discuss them with the advocate general within a week and take steps to resolve them.
When the chief minister enquired about the delay in the payment of compensation, the collectors brought to the CM’s attention that there was a delay in the release of funds from the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition. Responding to this, NHAI officials said that they are releasing funds after the lists are uploaded.
The CM then warned the district collectors that the government will not tolerate any delay in this matter and ordered them to complete the arbitration cases in land acquisition immediately and upload the lists on time. He also instructed the collectors to complete the land acquisition and payment of compensation by the end of October. The collectors, RDOs and tahsildars who show negligence in land acquisition and compensation payment will be removed from service, he warned.