Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has directed National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to complete four-laning of 112 km Cuttack-Angul section of NH-55 in two months.
“Several orders were passed from time to time in the instant PIL in pursuit of ensuring the timely completion of the aforesaid project. It appears that the NHAI has assured the court that they would complete the entire stretch within a specified time but because of the unforeseen obstacles the adherence to the time limit could not be ensured. In view of the assurances that have been given before this court, the NHAI is directed to complete the work within the time as expressed in the affidavit,” the two-judge bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Arindam Sinha said on Wednesday.
The NHAI had filed an affidavit on March 18 stating the entire stretch of NH-55 is expected to be completed by May.
The project was awarded during 2017-18 and was to be completed in two and a half years. However, it had to be revised following delay in land acquisition, forest clearance, COVID-19 and financial crisis of the contractor.
Manoranjan Sahoo, a social activist, filed a petition in 2022, pertaining to rehabilitation and upgrade of the national highway between Cuttack and Angul.
Notably, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari recently informed the Lok Sabha that the four-lane work of the section of NH-55 between Angul and Cuttack will be completed by April this year.
Responding to a query by Dhenkanal MP Rudra Narayan Pani, Gadkari said that Cuttack-Angul-Sambalpur section of NH-55 is being implemented in three packages. “Package-1 (Cuttack to Dhenkanal) and Package-2 (Dhenkanal to Angul) are in progress with revised completion dates set for the end of March and April respectively,” he said while acknowledging the delay in the implementation of the project.
