Bolangir: Even as people here have been demanding construction of a 12-km long National Highway (NH) bypass in Bolangir for over 20 years now, nothing has come off it.
Even a detailed project report (DPR) for the project has not been prepared yet. There is also no sight of the all-important forest clearance. There is a need for 135 acres of land for the construction of the bypass out of which forest land constitutes six acres.
Even though processing and receipt of a forest clearance is a long-drawn process, no headway has been made in this direction. Sources said, the NH authorities have not gone beyond putting in an online application for the forest clearance.
The foundation stone for the bypass had been laid in 2001. In 2013, Rs 42 crore was sanctioned for the project. As there were lots of accidents in the area, the government of India had sanctioned Rs 190 crore for building of the bypass in 2018.
Even as three years have passed since funds were sanctioned by the Centre, transfer of land and distribution of compensations have not been completed yet.
The project was hanging fire for years, thanks to delay in land acquisition and assessment issues. Even though the NH authorities have filed an online application, an offline application is yet to be submitted at the DFO office.
Forest clearance for acquisition of the six acres of forest land and its survey should have been over by now. NH executive engineer Hemant Kumar Nayak said permission for the acquisition of the forest land has been sought.
He said along with the application for the forest clearance, all other allied activities have been going on in a parallel way.
DFO Sameer Satapathy said as long as there is no patta for the six acres of jungle land under the Forest department, no construction for the bypass can begin.
PNN
