Paradip, April 14: Inordinate delay in land acquisition and haphazard progress of ancillary project-related work has hindered the Rs 800-crore World Bank-funded Cuttack-Chandballi state highway project.

Work for the highway widening is yet to make headway as acquisition of land, felling of roadside trees and relocation of places of worship and electricity poles have been moving at a snail’s pace.

The project, which envisages widening the circuitous 115km highway, is regarded as the lifeline for people in Kendrapara district. The World Bank funds for the project were lying practically unused for more than five years.

As 30 per cent of the required land is yet to be handed over to the public works department, the double-laning of the state highway is yet to start. The Odisha government had decided to widen the state highway in 2006 with funding from the World Bank. The work was supposed to be completed by 2008-09. However, the project faced hurdles related to land acquisition. As the highway ran mostly through thickly populated villages, roadside encroachment became a major issue. Places of worship, unauthorised constructions and concrete buildings have come up over private and government land along the highway.

Kendrapara collector Pradipta Kishore Patnaik said: “There has been a delay in resumption of the project work because of multiple factors. The land acquisition process is on in full swing. Many private land owners have received the compensation rates for the loss of their immovable property.”

Executive engineer of the roads and buildings division Kishore Kumar Nayak said: “The process to acquire private land in at least 50 more villages is now going on in full swing. Notices under Orissa Land Acquisition Act have been issued to the landowners. Nearly two-thirds of the required land has been acquired. So far, the acquisition drive has been resistance-free.”