A stretch of NH-33 that was supposed to be widened

Ranchi, June 25: A Rs 2,500 crore project to widen two stretches of Jharkhand’s lifeline NH-33 is staring at inordinate delays as two construction majors entrusted with the job are unable to begin work due to pending land acquisition and environmental clearances.

The project involves converting to four lanes a 163.5 km stretch between Vikas Vidyalaya in the outskirts of Ranchi to Jamshedpur’s Mohulia involving a spending of about Rs 1,500 crore and another 121-km stretch between Mohulia and Kharagpur in Bengal estimated to cost around Rs 940 crore.

“Issues pertaining to forests and environment clearances and land acquisition matters are continuing to haunt us. We are unable to issue a date of appointment letter to the companies that were awarded contracts a long time ago,” a senior NHAI official told The Telegraph over phone from Delhi, explaining that the companies would have to complete the work in two and a half years after its formal appointment.

According to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines, NHAI can hand over appointment letters to contracted firms only after all forest clearances were obtained and 80 per cent land needed for the project acquired.

The NH-33 projects are a part of NHAI’s National Highways Development Programme. While construction major Madhucon Projects Limited bagged the contract for the Ranchi-Jamshedpur leg in April 2011, Simplex Infrastructures was given the work for the Mohulia-Kharagpur stretch in January 2012.

Along the Ranchi-Jamshedpur leg, trees were being felled to pave the way for widening, but work on the road was yet to start. The construction companies have set up a few camps, but their equipment is lying idle.

The delay in widening the two stretches of NH-33 has also held up completion of the Ranchi Road Project, two of seven phases of which passes through this stretch.

A bypass would be created between Vikas Vidyalaya (Ranchi-Hazaribagh road) and Rampur (Ranchi-Jamshepdur road) in the form of an arc which would ultimately be used by Jamshedpur and Hazaribagh-bound vehicles that will no longer need to encounter the capital’s rush-hour traffic.

The existing NH-33 stretch, that connects Vikas Vidyalaya with Rampur goes via Booty More, Kanta Toli Chowk, Namkum railway crossing, would remain and be used by Ranchi-bound vehicles.

Ram Naresh Raman, engineer-in-chief of road construction department, said NHAI officials were reviewing the progress of the project.

“We do not have much to say as the project is being handled by NHAI. Moreover, forest and environment clearances and land acquisition issues have to be resolved by the other government departments,” he said.

According to sources in the state government, matters related to forest clearances and land acquisition would be resolved soon.

The issues figured at a recent meeting of parliamentary standing committee on finance attended, among others, by NHAI director R. P. Singh.