A congested NH34 in Malda. The highway passes right through the town. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, July 1: The expansion of NH34 from Barasat to Dalkhola will be completed by 2011, National Highways Authority officials said today.

The stretch between Barasat in North 24 Parganas and Dalkhola in North Dinajpur will be widenend to four lanes. “Provisions are being kept to turn it into a six-lane road in future. The land acquisition is being made with an eye to achieving the goal,” said Srikumar Bhattacharya, the project director of the NHAI here.

This apart, a number of bypasses will be built between Barasat and Dalkhola, with the stretch between Berhampore and Raiganj getting six. These will include a 9.25km road skirting Malda town.

Bhattacharya said there had been no problem over land acquisition in Malda district. The all-party meeting convened by district magistrate Chittaranjan Das has cleared the land required for expansion of NH34 and construction of the bypass. The NHAI, too, had attended the meeting held on June 29.

The Centre has decided to construct bypasses and expand the highway for improving communication between the Northeast and the rest of the country. The highway joins NH31 in Dalkhola and the latter goes towards Assam.

Private organisations will build the roads. “We hope that the land acquisition process will be over by the end of this year. The construction, which may start by early next year, will be completed in another two years,” the official said.

According to Bhattacharya, on an average 3,425 vehicles ply on NH34 daily. By 2010, the number will reach 4,586. The figure will touch 5,729 in 2014 and 12,379 in 2030. “Keeping with the pace, the highway has to be widened,” he said.

For the construction of the bypass in Malda, the NHAI will require 56 hectare of land. A 428-metre-long bridge will be built on the Mahananda. Three other bridges will also come up. The total project will cost Rs 229 crore.

The district magistrate said the bypass would start on the outskirts of the town at Jadupur. More than 80 houses and over 300 trees dot the land to has be acquired to build the road. “But this will not create any problem,” Das added.

District police chief Satyajit Bandyopadhyay said the traffic system on the highway would have to be overhauled after the expansion.