RSP rejects partial merger plan of Ring Road with NH 320D
RSP rejects partial merger plan of Ring Road with NH 320D
admin
Rourkela: According to reports on Thursday, the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has declined to give up its Ring Road in order to widen the recently declared National highway (NH) 320D in the Sundargarh district of Odisha, for which land acquisition is underway.
Following the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' March 2022 approval of Rs 209.92 crore for the construction of 36 km of NH 320D from Jareikela to Hockey Square, a tender was floated in August for the construction of a two-lane, 24-km stretch with paved shoulders from Jareikela to Diesel Colony of Bondamunda for Rs 159 crore.
The office of the Panposh Sub-Collector and Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA) has started the land acquisition procedure for the purpose of enlarging the highway by 30 km from Jareikela to Bisra Square, where the new highway meets RSP's Ring Road.
According to estimates, the administration needs to purchase from the South Eastern Railway (SER) about 138 acres of private land between Jareikela and Diesel Colony and six kilometres between Diesel Colony and Bisra Square for the purpose.
According to Panposh Sub-Collector Abhimanyu Majhi, who was quoted by TNIE, the administration asked private landowners to submit their claims with the necessary documentation three days prior, but there is no information regarding RSP's objection to the plan to merge four kilometres of its Ring Road into NH 320D.
Majhi stated that the problem would be taken into consideration later when that stretch is up for development.
An RSP spokeswoman acknowledged that the management has already voiced its concerns to the government and the NHD, stating that the inclusion of the Ring Road in the project will significantly impede heavy truck mobility and jeopardise the safety of RSP staff, workers, and the general public.
He noted that during work hours, both the employee accident risk and the traffic flow to RSP would deteriorate significantly.
