Bhubaneswar: With the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) cancelling the tenders floated for Odisha coastal highway, opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday strongly criticised the move and claimed that the project faces uncertain future.
Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, senior BJD leader Sanjay Das Burma said that the annulment of tenders of four packages of the proposed coastal highway was nothing but a betrayal by the double-engine Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments at the Centre and in Odisha.
Stating that the detailed project report (DPR) for coastal highway in the state had been changed thrice, the former Minister said repeated cancellation of tenders showed that the future of the project is uncertain.
Coming down heavily on the Centre and state government, Das Burma also questioned the move to make it two-lane instead of the original plan to construct a four-lane coastal highway
After the confusion over the Bhubaneswar metro rail project, the coastal highway project now faces an uncertain future, the senior BJD leader said.
Notably, the much-awaited Odisha coastal highway is set to be delayed further as the NHAI once again cancelled the tenders floated for four segments of the first half of the 346-km project reportedly due to last minute change in plans over traffic volume.
The tender annulment notice issued by manager (tech) of NHAI-Odisha circle attributed the cancellation to administrative reasons.
However, sources claimed that the bids were cancelled on May 22, a day before the scheduled opening, due to significant changes in the DPR.
Now, the coastal highway being planned as an alternative and parallel carriageway to the existing NH-16 will be developed as a two-lane highway instead of the earlier four-lane design and the DPR is being modified accordingly, they said.
