RSP Against Partial Merger Plan Of Ring Road With NH 320D In Odisha

Rourkela: The Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has declined to part with its Ring Road for widening of the newly-declared National highway (NH) 320D in Odisha’s Sundargarh district for which land acquisition process is in progress, reports said on Thursday.

Following sanction of Rs 209.92 crore by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in March, 2022 for development of 36 km of NH 320D from Jareikela to Hockey Square, tender was floated in August to two-lane 24 km from Jareikela to Diesel Colony of Bondamunda with paved shoulders for Rs 159 crore.

The process for acquiring land has been initiated by the office of the Panposh Sub-Collector and Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA) for widening the highway by 30 km from Jareikela to Bisra Square, where the new highway meets RSP’s Ring Road.

According to reports, the administration needs to acquire around 138 acre private land between Jareikela and Diesel Colony and six km between Diesel Colony and Bisra Square from the South Eastern Railway (SER) for the purpose.

The administration issued a public notice asking private land owners to submit their claims with relevant documents three days back but there is no information about  objection of RSP over plan for merger of four km of its Ring Road into the NH 320D,  Panposh Sub-Collector Abhimanyu Majhi was quoted by TNIE as saying.

According to Majhi, the issue would be considered later when that stretch comes up for development.

An RSP spokesperson confirmed that the management has already put up its reservation with the administration and the NHD, pointing that the addition of the Ring Road in the project would immensely hamper movement of heavy vehicles and affect the safety of RSP employees, workers and general public, it said.

The smooth traffic flow to RSP and accident risk of the employees would increase manifold during duty hours, he added.