Ranchi: Around 300 shops on Harmu Bypass remained closed on Friday in protest against the proposed Harmu flyover and smart road project.

Officials of Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company (Juidco), which is executing the project, were supposed to visit the area for measurement work for land acquisition.

The flyover in question is meant to be 2.34km long, rising at LPN Nath Shahdeo Chowk on Kanke Road and plunging at Kartik Oraon Chowk in Harmu.

Around 246.056 decimal of government land and another 296.028 decimal of private land have been earmarked for acquisition.

"This is the second time acquisition work is being planned on the same stretch. This is not fair. Moreover, this flyover is not required. The road had already been broadened 10 years ago and traffic congestion here is much less in comparison to other roads in the city," Paras Jaiswal, who runs a water purifier shop called Anushka Aqua Care on Harmu Bypass, said.

Deputy project director of Juidco Pratyush Anand said henceforth every step in connection to the flyover project would be taken cautiously.

"The flyover faces several hurdles. Besides shop owners and raiyats, Raj Bhavan is also reluctant to provide land for the project because of security reasons. Two shrines - Devi Mandap and Shani temple - are also coming in the way. The project will start after taking people into confidence. Therefore, we have also postponed the measurement work scheduled today (Friday)," Anand said.

On the amount of land required for the flyover he said from the stretch between Ratu Road Chowk to Purani Ranchi, 15 feet on the both sides of the road would be needed.

"Between Purani Ranchi to Harmu river, we need five feet on the both sides of the road while from Harmu river to Shahjanand Chowk in Harmu Housing Colony, 30 feet on both sides of the road will be needed," he added.

With all the shops closed, Harmu Bypass wore a deserted look on Friday.

Motorists were navigating the stretch quite smoothly, a departure from normal days.

"I took only seven minutes to reach Ratu Road from Harmu on my scooter compared with 20-25 minutes on other days," Anand Masih Lakra, a resident of Tungri Tola, said.

Some, however, were inconvenience by the closure of shops. "I generally stop at a mobile store to recharge my phone, but today I had to go Ratu Road roundabout," Deepak Kumar, a resident of A.G. Cooperative Colony, said.