Calcutta, June 11: The Mamata Banerjee government has renewed efforts to widen NH35, which connects Bongaon to Barasat, after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) scrapped its four-laning three years ago because of unavailability of land and resistance from a section of Trinamul leaders in North 24-Parganas.
If the government can implement the plan, it would be the first major infrastructure project to materialise despite protests by the party and encroachers.
Sources in the government said the chief minister set the ball rolling during a review meeting at Madhyamgram in North 24-Parganas on May 21. At the session, she stressed on the need to go ahead with the widening of NH35.
"Chief secretary Sanjay Mitra has been given the responsibility of holding meetings with all stakeholders to pave the way for widening the important road, which leads to the India-Bangladesh border at Petrapole. This is the largest trade gateway between the two countries and accounts for 60 per cent of the business volume of around Rs 8,000 crore," a minister present at the meeting said.
The decision to widen the highway is a reflection of Mamata's realisation that the state has to ensure land for roads, a key infrastructure.
About a year ago, the state government had pushed back encroachers from Jessore Road to widen it. The encroachers were removed from PWD land along the road to construct a sewerage system. Later, the squatters were not allowed to return.
"But this (widening NH35) is a much tougher challenge. The Jessore Road stretch from where the encroachers were removed was only 4km long. NH35 is 60km long and has many encroachers," an official said.
According to senior government officials, the four-laning was initiated by the NHAI in 2006 but the project was scrapped in September 2012 after land could not be made available to the central agency.
Trinamul had launched an agitation against the widening when a survey was being carried out by the NHAI in 2006. The erstwhile Left Front government did not take any initiative to acquire land for the project against the backdrop of the Singur and Nandigram land agitation.
"After the change of guard in Bengal, the NHAI waited for more than a year but the new government too did not do anything to acquire land for the project because of its hands-off policy. The project was called off in September 2012," an official said.
Sources said the major threat to the project was encroachers on both sides of the road who had Trinamul's blessings.
A source said now that the NHAI had cancelled the project, the state government would steer the expansion work and the Union roads, transport and highways ministry would fund it.
The state's change of stance is significant as the widening of the road would require acquisition of land and removal of encroachers, two major issues that have stalled several projects in Bengal. The 5.5-metre-wide road will be widened to 10 metres instead of the standard 14 metres because the government is averse to the idea of acquiring more land.
The widening of NH34, which connects Calcutta airport to Dalkhola in North Dinajpur, and NH31D, which links Ghoshpukur near Siliguri with Salsabari on the Assam border, have been stalled because of problems over acquisition and removal of encroachers. The same hurdles have hobbled the commissioning of at least 14 bridges across Bengal.
According to officials in North 24-Parganas, the government has land along the highway in some pockets and only a few hundred acres would be needed to widen the road to 10 metres. Most of that land is available with the government and some needs to be acquired.