Berhampur: The construction work of the 45-km Ring Road of Berhampur took off on Tuesday, 7 years after its foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik before the General Elections in 2014.
The construction work was started at Kusumi under Kukudakhandi tehsil on the day. The road would connect Aska Road to Kusumi and Haldiapadar. “The tender for the ring road was floated earlier. The engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD) and the contractor started the work as per schedule,” said Ganjam Collector Vijay Amrit Kulange.
The district administration is planning to connect 13-km stretch of the NH-16 from Raghunathpur to Ratnapur around Berhampur with Haldiapadar through Dakhinpur and Lathi (15 km) and Haldiapadar to Mandiapalli (17 km) to give it ‘D’ shape ring road.
“Nearly 95% of the process of land acquisition from NH has already been completed and we are expecting to complete it soon,” said Kulange.
As part of the proposed ring road, while 13-km long Raghunathpur-Ratanapur bypass road would be constructed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), while 15-km stretch of Dakhinapur-Lathi-Haladiapadar and 17-km stretch connecting Mandiapalli-Karapalli and Phulta would be taken up by the Public Works Department with an estimated cost of Rs 330 crore.
The proposed ring road will cover Ragunathpur, Ratanapur, Digapahandi Road, Chikiti Road, Haladiapadar, NH-16, Korapalli, University Road, Golabandh Gate and Ragunathpur.
For the convenience of the commuters, the ring road will touch NH-59 at Ratnapur (Kukudahandi-Berhampur), NH-16 at Raghunathpur (Chatrapur-Berhampur), Berhampur-Gopalpur road at Karapalli, NH-16 at Halidapadar (on Konisi/Girisola-Berhampur), near Lathi on Chikiti-Berhampur road on State Highway 17 before Dakhinapur (Taptapani-Digapahandi Road) and back to NH-59 at Ratnapur.
The Ring Road, which is expected to ease traffic problems in Berhampur, is considered a major boost for development of the Silk City.
