With the Union Government slowing down construction of the Vijayawada-Ranchi (VR) corridor, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has expressed concern over the delay in completion of major road connectivity in the Maoist-infested belt.
While the VR corridor will serve as the lifeline in the left Wing Extremist (lWE) Zone and boost the socio-economic condition of the tribal areas, delay in completion of the project has raised concern among the peoples’ representatives.
Echoing their concern, Chief Minister Patnaik urged Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to speed up the construction process and clear the tender proposals as early as possible.
In a letter to Union Minister Gadkari, Chief Minister Patnaik pointed out that the VR corridor runs through the lWE affected areas and its completion will not only provide better communications, but also facilitate better administration in the tribal zone.
He said recently while reviewing the progress of the project, it was observed that one tender was received in March, 2015 and two tenders were received in first week of June, 2015.
All the three tenders pertain to the National Highway-326 between Motu-Baipariguda, Koraoput-Kakariguma and Rayagada-Gumuda. Three districts, which are lWE affected districts, need better communication facilities, which will help out the State Government in providing effective administration.
Around 200 km route length will be covered by these three tenders and finalization of the project will speed up construction work, said the Chief Minister.
All the roads under the project are passing through the KBK Zone, which is most backward region of the country. So, timely completion of the VR corridor is extremely important for the State, Patnaik stated. As the finalisation of tenders has been delayed due to bureaucratic wrangling, Union Minister’s intervention in the case is much warranted.
The inordinate delay in completion of the road connecting Koraput, laxmipur and Rayagada, a part of the VR corridor, has become a nightmare for commuters in the district.
"It is nightmarish and risky for any driver to cover the long road which has several ghat sections. The problem has been heightened because the road has been dug up for widening and construction of culverts. A small mistake by drivers can prove fatal," said a senior official of the State Government.
The VR corridor is criss-crossing Andhra Pradesh- Odisha-Jharkhand with a length of 1,632 km. While Andhra Pradesh has 236 km, Jharkhand has got only 177km.
However, Odisha has the largest chunk of roads of 1,219 km under the flagship project, which has been covering 12 districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Boudh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj.
Out of 1,219 km road passing through Odisha, 750 km has already been completed. And once the tenders will be finalized and construction of the three patches between Tadikona-Amalbhata, Koraput-laxmipur-Rayagada and Jeypore-Kota-Malkangiri covering a total length of 186 km is complete, then Odisha will have a major road network in south-northern zones, which will boost socio-economic development of the people and the region, feel senior officials.