NHAI to prepare DPR for Rs 900 crore Bhubaneswar ring road project

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will soon prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the capital region ring road project, estimated to be costing around Rs 900 crore, said a senior official of the Union government.

The Odisha government has agreed to bear the cost of land acquisition for the project. We have approved the project proposal and have asked NHAI to prepare a DPR for it. They will complete the report soon after the survey work is done, said S N Das, special secretary with the Union MInistry of Road Transport and Highways, at 75th session of Indian Roads Congress (IRC) here. However, he did not give any timeline for the completion of the project.

Capital region ring road project, envisioned to reduce traffic congestion on NH-5 passing through Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, would originate at Manguli and connect with Khurdha though NH-42 (Cuttack-Puri road) . The road would bypass Athgarh, Banki and Khurda to connect the NH-5 at Kodarmal about five km from Khurda town.

Though feasibility study for the road project was completed in 2011, the Union ministry approved the state government's proposal earlier this month. The proposal was approved after the state government agreed to abide by the conditions set by central government to bear the cost of land acquisitions for the project, which will be 64 km long.

We have assured the Union government about providing all support including support in land acquisition and other clearances. The sooner the work starts, the better it will be for the city traffic, said Nalinikanta Pradhan, secretary, works department, Odisha government present in the function.

The project is to be constructed on a Private Public Partnership (PPP) basis, as per the proposal of the state government. Apart from the road project for the capital region, the state government also stressed that the engineers of the national forum must come up with ideas to develop roads for coastal areas, which are prone to calamities. It said, the stress should be upon use of modern technology and non-traditional raw materials such as fly ash, steel plant slag etc to cut costs and maintain longevity of roads.

The IRC must encourage use of flyash and steel plant slag in road construction to cut costs as the state will be generating huge amount of such industrial waste in near future, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the inaugural session.

Similarly, Badri Patra, state minister for rural development said, there should be cost -effective technology for construction of roads in calamity-prone areas.