Outer Ring Road: NHAI to start work by June

Boundary stone laying begun from Vizhinjam side; demarcation process expected to be completed within a month
National Highways Authority of India. (Photo | Twitter/@NHAI_Official)
National Highways Authority of India. (Photo | Twitter/@NHAI_Official)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The work on the proposed Outer Ring Road (ORR) project in the capital will start next year as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is gearing up to call tenders to select the contractor by March 2023. The construction is likely to begin in June 2023.

On Thursday, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Centre is giving utmost importance to the ORR and that the tender proceedings would be completed by March next year. NHAI has started demarcating the land as part of acquisition proceedings. So far, the NHAI has laid stones along a 10 km stretch at a width of 50 m on the southern side near Vizhinjam.

The proposed 77-km road will start from Vizhinjam and end at Navaikulam near the Kollam border. In the first phase, the stone laying will be done along a 65-km stretch from Vizhinjam to Navaikulam. The demarcation for the construction of the Thekkada-Mangalapuram stretch will be done in the second phase.
The laying of boundary stones will be completed within a month. A total of 348.09 hectares of land will be acquired for the project. “Stone laying has started from the Vizhinjam side. We have already laid stones along a stretch of 10 km, at a width of 50 m. We expect to complete the demarcation process within a month and float the tender by March,” said P Pradeep, project director, NHAI.

As some residents along the Thekkada-Mangalapuram Link Road protested against the land acquisition, the NHAI has decided to hold a meeting with the state government soon to resolve it. Pradeep stated that some landowners from Thekkada- Mangalapuram approached the NHAI office to resolve their issues.“Since the landowners raised apprehension about the acquisition, we will hold a special meeting with the state government to ensure proper rehabilitation for them,” he said.

Meanwhile, a top PWD official told TNIE that all issues related to land acquisition would be resolved. “If there is an issue related to land acquisition, it will be addressed. The state government will look into the issue after holding discussions with NHAI. The demarcation is being done by the NHAI in association with the revenue department, and a Bhopal-based firm, Highway Engineering Consultant.

In October, Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation Ltd had submitted the detailed project report (DPR) for land acquisition to the NHAI. The DPR was finalised by the NHAI and handed over to the district administration’s land acquisition wing.

The DPRs for other activities, including the resettlement and rehabilitation package, and the environmental impact assessment report, are yet to be submitted to the NHAI. The NHAI is expected to float the tender for the project during this financial year itself. As per the DPR, the stretch passes through 31 villages.

Earlier, the revenue department had constituted a special team for the speedy implementation of the project. Issuing an order on government approval for land acquisition in April this year, the revenue department set up a team of 12 officials, led by a special deputy collector, to ensure the smooth acquisition of about 1,500 acres for the project under the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana scheme.

The ORR project got the Union government’s in-principle approval in 2019. As per the plan, the six-lane road will be 70-m wide and will have 10m-wide service lanes. The project will be implemented in two phases.

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