BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Odisha government is mulling to develop the Berhampur-Jeypore Expressway (BJEW) as a six-lane greenfield high-speed transport corridor with parallel rail connectivity, the project has posed a big challenge due to the difficult terrain of the Eastern Ghats.
The proposed 287-km expressway is among six ambitious road corridors planned to be developed or expanded as six-lane highways in next five years. Other projects include Rourkela-Jaleswar, Jharsuguda-Balasore, Jeypore-Rourkela, Brundabahal-Gopalpur and Nuapada-Astarang corridors.
Sources said the alignment of BJEW, with a proposed right of way (RoW) of 80 metres, passes through rugged and hilly terrain of the Eastern Ghats for nearly 230 km. In order to accommodate a parallel railway line, the RoW would have to be expanded to 200 metre, enhancing the engineering and environmental challenges manifold for the Rs 9,000 crore project.
The expansion of RoW up to 200 metre would substantially increase the forest diversion area. While the current 80 mtr RoW requires around 717 acre of reserve forest diversion, widening it to 200 mtr would necessitate clearance for nearly 2,000 acre of forest land.
Land acquisition is also expected to rise significantly if the RoW is expanded. Around 5,673 acre of land, including 1,528.18 acre government, 2,492.76 acre private and 1,352 acre forest are required for the RoW. An increase in RoW would demand at least 2.5 times of land requirement, which will further escalate the project cost and trigger extensive rehabilitation and resettlement challenges.
Besides, the hilly tracts of the Eastern Ghats pose serious engineering hurdles as increasing the ROW could exacerbate issues related to high slope cutting. The level difference between the left and right edges of the alignment could exceed 100 mtr at certain stretches for which the corridor may encounter significant terrain challenges, including landslides, sources said.
Road engineering experts point out that rail integration along this route may lead to complexity and simply expanding the RoW may not address the fundamental design limitations for rail operations. “Around 138 km of the proposed corridor has slopes exceeding one per cent, which is challenging for standard railway gradients. The railway component needs detailed design interventions,” they said.At a recent high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, it has been decided to share the alignment with Railways for a detailed feasibility study and design of railway alignment alongside the BJEW alignment.
“The government may plan to increase the RoW to 90 mtr to accommodate a 20 mtr utility corridor as an alternative to the parallel rail connectivity,” said an official who attended the meeting.
