Ranchi, June 15: If you are worried about the perennial problem of traffic snarls within the state capital, then learn to live with it. For, the ambitious Ring Road project is unlikely to be over before September 2012, the official deadline for completing work in four of the seven phases.

But the good news is that since the work is going on at a brisk pace in these phases, the deadline is likely to be met.

The four phases — from III to VI — on which work was on would connect Rampur (along NH-33 on Ranchi-Jamshedpur road) with Kathitand (along NH-75 on Ranchi-Daltonganj road).

The construction cost of the 37 km six-lane throughway was over Rs 450 crore.

Jharkhand Accelerated Road Development Company Limited (JARDCL), a joint venture floated by the state and Mumbai-based consultancy firm IL&FS to construct roads, has been entrusted with the task of developing the four phases of the ambitious project.

The project is being executed under BOT-annuity basis. This means the state would not have to invest anything initially. It will, however, reimburse the amount as fixed annual payments after the project is completed.

“Work has picked up pace. We may be able to complete a sizeable part of the project by December 2011,” executive engineer Umesh Prasad Sinha told The Telegraph.

Moreover, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already agreed to take over phase I and II of the Ring Road project as the alignment matches the proposed four-laning project of NH-33 between the Ranchi-Rargaon section.

NHAI has already sought bids from contractors for the over Rs 1,500 crore project.

As for phase VII of the project, it would connect Kathitand to a place near Vikas Vidyalaya (along NH-33 on Ranchi-Hazaribagh road). But, the state road construction department that is executing phase VII is finding it difficult to due to land hiccups.

The total length of the Ring Road is 85 km of which the state government would have to focus on less than 60 km, while over 25 km would be executed by NHAI.

The slow execution of the 23-km phase VII is an area of concern. A joint venture of Somdutt builders and Shrinet and Shandilya have been entrusted with the task to complete Rs 155 crore project.

The official deadline to complete phase VII is June 2010, but till now contractors have been able to complete only around 30-40 per cent of the work.