Ranchi, June 22: The much-delayed phase VII of Ranchi Ring Road got off to a fresh start today with chief minister Raghubar Das laying the foundation for the incomplete portion of the 23.575km stretch that was incepted in 2007 but was held up for over three years.
Lucknow-based APCO India Private Limited has bagged the Rs 452-crore project, part of the seven-phase 86km Ranchi Ring Road, to be executed under BOT (Built, Own & Transfer) basis and monitored by Jharkhand-accelerated Road Development Company Limited (JARDCL).
A joint venture between the state road construction department and leading infrastructure development company IL&FS, JARDCL has already executed phases III, IV, V and VI of the Ranchi Ring Road successfully. Phases I and II are being executed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Phase VII, which will connect NH-75 (Ranchi-Daltonganj road) with NH-33 (Ranchi-Hazaribagh-road) through a six-lane thoroughfare, is expected to be completed in one-and-a-half-years and will automatically ease traffic in the state capital.
Heavy vehicles (not destined to Ranchi and coming from NH 75) will be able to directly go to Karma (NH-33) and can head for Patna, Jamshedpur and Purulia.
Laying the foundation stone near Kathitand along the NH-75, the chief minister said there should be no compromise in quality of work.
"This will give a much-needed relief as far as traffic snarls within the main capital city are concerned. The government would also revamp the road from Vikas Vidyalaya to Kanta Toli Chowk at a sum of around Rs 150 crore and from Dumri-Phusro to Jaina More at Rs 500 crore," Das added.
Besides the chief minister, local MP Ramtahal Choudhary, MLAs Ram Kumar Pahan (Khijri), Jitu Charan Ram (Kanke) and Navin Jaiswal (Hatia), road construction secretary Rajbala Verma and engineer-in-chief Ram Naresh Raman, among others, were present.
"Although the completion deadline for the incomplete 13km stretch is two years, we have asked the construction major to finish the project within 18 months or so. It will be a six-lane carriageway. The contractor will also have to revamp the 10km stretch that was constructed by the earlier agency (Somdutt Builders and Shrinent & Shandilya)," said an executive engineer-rank official.
APCO will get a fixed annuity every year after the completion of the project. It will maintain the road for next 15 years and the state may decide to go the toll route to ensure payments and annuity and regular upkeep of the project.
