1960 trees to be felled to widen nat’l highway

Koraput: As many as 1,960 trees will be felled for widening of NH-26 from Bariniput Chhack in Jeypore to Borigumma in Koraput district. “Double the number of trees felled will be planted at suitable places as compensation,” said Ajay Kumar Mohanty, executive engineer, NH division, Jeypore.
Official sources said mostly mango trees over 50 years old will be uprooted along the 26-km stretch. Around Rs 55 lakh will be spent on felling and plantation of trees, Mohanty said.

According to the officer, the existing seven meter wide NH will be extended up to 10 metres and a tender worth Rs 79.91 crore has been floated for the project.

The tenders will be opened in the first week of April and once the tender process is finalised, the NH widening work will start immediately, said Mohanty.

Also, encroachments on either side of the NH at Jeypore, Ambaguda, Kumuliput, Rondapalli and Borigumma will be evicted as it leads to congestion of road and traffic jams.

With increasing traffic and frequent road accidents, widening of the NH and removing of encroachment was a long-standing demand of the local residents.

“Every day thousands of vehicles use the NH-26 and most of the encroachments in the form of roadside eateries and garages create traffic problem. Hope widening of the road and removal of encroachments will ensure smooth flow of traffic,” said S P Panigrahi, a Jeypore-based trader.