Bhubaneswar: Nearly four years after its announcement, the Centre reduced the length of the much-talked about coastal highway by 48 km. This was informed Monday by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. As per the requirement of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the alignment of 430 km long Gopalpur-Digha Coastal Highway in Odisha was modified to 382 km, Nitin Gadkari said. Accordingly, a detailed project report along with the modified alignment has been taken up, he informed.
In April 2015, Gadkari had announced the coastal highway project during one of his visits to Odisha. After that the project was delayed due to a political slugfest between the BJD and the BJP. Later the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change denied to accord approval to the alignment of the highway.
Originally, it was between Gopalpur and Digha. Now, the coastal highway will start from Tangi in Khurda district to Digha.
The projected road starts from NH-16 near Tangi, and will pass through Puri, Konark, Astarang, Naugaon, Paradip Port and will end at Ratanpur in Odisha and it will connect to Digha in West Bengal. The approximate project cost is Rs 2,765 crore.
The EAC report stated that the new alignment would save 9,442 trees and would not pass through any wildlife sanctuary in the new road between Tangi and Ratanpur. No land will be acquired from any forest or sensitive zones.
A total of 150 structures will be constructed for the project. Those would include 20 major bridges, 69 minor bridges, four rail over bridges, five vehicle underpass and two flyovers.
