Naveen Seeks Centre’s Early Nod For Road Projects Worth Rs 1261 Cr

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday requested Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari for early sanction of projects proposals worth Rs 1261 crore submitted by the state government in December last year.

Of the 30 project proposals submitted on December 20, 2018, 29 pertains to widening and strengthening of roads and one to construction of a high-level bridge over the Subarnarekha river on the national highway (NH) at Haladipada.

Except for one road project in Puri, district, which caters to tourism, the remaining pass through tribal and backward pockets in 13 districts, he added.

However, “it would be pertinent to favourably mention that no project has been sanctioned during the last year as well as the current year under the central road fund scheme for the State of Odisha,” he said, while requesting Gadkari to  consider the proposals.

Earlier on January 4, Naveen had drawn his attention to the poor condition of the NH passing through Mayurbhanj district. He shot off the letter a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Baripada.

In his letter, Naveen said that Odisha was “suffering a lot” due to lack of timely maintenance, improvement and widening of the existing NHs which are important communication link in the state. Giving an example, he said that the Jharpokharia-Keonjhar-Sambalpur NH 49 passing through Mayurbhanj district is not in a “traffic-worthy condition”. Many public complaints have been received in this regard as well, he said.

The Chief Minister requested Gadkari to declare some important roads passing through Mayurbhanj as NHs. They include the 135 km long Bhadrakh-Anandpur-Thakurmunda-Karanjia-Singada stretch and the 110 km long Shergarh-Nilgiri-Kaptipada-Baripada stretch up to the West Bengal border.

Besides, Naveen demanded that the 54 km Rairangpur-Bangiriposi-Kalabadia stretch and the 70 km Jashipur-Champua section be declared as NHs.