CPM refuses to buy National Highway Authority of India's claim on National Highway 520 upgrade

ROURKELA:Members of CPM have refused to buy the claim of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) that it has floated tenders for upgradation of two packages of National Highway (NH) 520 (old NH 215) from Rimuli in Keonjhar district to Rajamunda in Sundargarh.

The CPM members said they are still not sure about fate of the NH as promises and assurances of the NHAI have usually failed to translate into action.Sources said it has been planned to lay bitumen road of about 46 km from Rimuli (in Keonjhar) to Koida (in Sundargarh) at a cost of about `668 crore. The other package of 54 km from Koida to Rajamunda in Sundargarh would be a cement concrete road with estimated cost of nearly `1,020 crore. The entire upgrdation project envisages construction of three major road-over bridges (ROBs).

District secretariat member of CPM Banamali Dhupal said after NHAI has repeatedly failed to keep its promises. After a massive protest, the NHAI assured to make the highly damaged stretch of the NH motorable by mid of December. However, the works have been stopped recently, Dhupal said. A senior NHAI official said recently, tenders were floated for the two packages within a week’s gap. Both the tenders close next month. If everything goes as per plan, then agreement signing with construction firms may be completed before March. He said after finalisation of tenders, there won’t be any further delay as land acquisition is nearing completion. While Stage-II forest clearance is pending with the Ministry of Forest and Environment, the NHAI has received permission from the local forest authorities to fell trees, the official added.

Dhupal said the NH-520 has been a victim of inordinate delay. Though the NH was sanctioned almost 11 years back, work on it started in July 2011 on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) mode by Odisha Steel Expressway Pvt Ltd, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of MBL-SREI.He said with less than 10 per cent progress, the contractor stopped work and the callous NHAI took about six years to terminate the agreement. The party has decided to hold another major agitation to expedite the project and mount pressure on NHAI, Dhupal added.