The Odisha Government has urged the Centre to approve the annual action plan worth over `2,000 crore for improvement of National Highways, which is pending with the Union Government for quite some time.
Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi met Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Secretary Sanjay Mitra in New Delhi and urged him to clear the pending proposal.
The National Highway Annual Action Plan for 2016-17 has been sent to MoRTH for an outlay of `2,023.50 crore. Padhi urged to finalize the plan early so that the detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared and sanction of estimate and tendering process can be completed within six months, so that in next six months the funds can be utilised.
The Chief Secretary brought to the notice of the Union Secretary that maintenance of several National Highways by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is going on in Odisha. However, in many cases progress is slow, resulting in inconvenience for the traffic.
He said that there are project proposals pending with MoRTH for sanction of funds from the Central Road Fund (CRF).
At least `90.97 crore worth proposals are pending with the Government of India.
Padhi said Sohela-Nuapada State Highway is the lifeline in the tribal dominated zone of Odisha and this road needs to be developed with improved road widening and bridges with funding support from CRF.
Padhi brought to the notice of the Union Secretary that way back in 2013, the Ministry approved a proposal for a major bridge over river Sileru in Malkangiri district at Motu. The job was entrusted to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. However till date, the project has not been taken up.
As the road from Malkangiri to Motu has been already developed under the Vijayawada-Ranchi Corridor Scheme, the bridge over Sileru is essential to provide the complete inter-State connectivity and maintenance of law and order in the left Wing Extremist (lWE) affected region, said the Chief Secretary.
Padhi pointed out that 22 National Highway projects are under implementation by the NH wing of the State Public Works Department, which requires acquisition of land.
Private land is required for construction of National Highways by the district authorities. Earlier MoRTH was allowing 20 per cent of land acquisition cost on account of establishment charges to run land acquisition cells of the district administrations.
The Chief Secretary urged Mitra to allocate funds for these lA cells, which is necessary for timely land acquisition.
Mitra was highly positive towards the causes of Odisha, said sources.