Ring road project takes a step forward

BHUBANESWAR: The Capital Region Ring Road project, envisioned to reduce traffic congestion on NH-5 passing through Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, by diverting heavy vehicles on a bypass route, has made a significant headway.The feasibility study for the Rs 700-crore project has entered advanced stages and is expected to be completed by early next year. The State Government is preparing to submit a proposal to the Centre for Viability Gap Funding (VGF).The 77-km road, to be constructed on a Private Public Partnership, would originate at Nirgundi and connect with the NH-42 through Manguli Square and Chowdar. The road would bypass Athgarh, Banki and Khurda to connect the NH-5 at Kodarmal about five km from Khurda town.“The increasing vehicular pressure on the NH-5 cutting through the twin Cities has begun to inflict serious traffic problems. The Ring Road would absorb the load of heavy vehicles and decongest the traffic in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. To make the project viable for the private investor, the Centre would be approached for VGF to pitch in with financial support to meet the capital costs that could be matched by the State Government,” Secretary, Public Works Department, S K Ray said here on Saturday.Ray observed that the vehicular load handling capacity of the roads in the State is being exhausted fast due to a blistering increase in industrialisation, mines and minerals-related transportation activities. In the next five years, the situation would become alarming.In the next five years, roads leading to the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex, the Jajpur-Duburi road and the express highway connecting Daitari and Paradip would handle not less than 8,000 trucks per day, Ray said. Work on expanding both the roads is on but by the time they are completed, the enhanced capacity would also be exhausted, he pointed out at the CII-hosted  seminar on infrastructure development, Roads here.State Commerce and Transport Secretary Gagan Kumar Dhal said heavy vehicular traffic on the State roads was increasing by 18 to 20 per cent every year. As a result, the industrial hubs of Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Kalinga Nagar, Angul-Talcher, Paradip, Berhampur and Balasore, were facing serious challenges in transportation.With over 400 million tonne of cargo transportation projected every year, there is an urgent need to expand the roads to withstand the increasing pressure. The National Highways Authority of India should accelerate work on this front, he said.