Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met his cabinet colleague and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday in Delhi to discuss the ongoing and proposed National Highway projects in Odisha.
As per reports, the two leaders discussed environmental clearance, tender process and the alignment of the projects.
Speaking about his meeting, Pradhan said, “I met Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. We reviewed the Cuttack-Sambalpur National Highway project, the road from Duburi to Kamakhyanagar through Balhar Chhak in Talcher, the road from Godibandha near Talcher to Banarpal in Angul, ring roads in Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur and the Coastal Highway project.”
Gadkari has assured Pradhan of putting various road projects in Odisha including Cuttack-Sambalpur National Highway (NH) on the fast track.
Started in three phases between March 2017 and March 2018, the four-laning work of the Cuttack-Sambalpur section of NH-55 (old NH-42) was taken up at a cost of Rs 2,367 crore. The NH was divided into three slots - 60 km Manguli-Jhargadia (slot I), 52 km Jhargadia-Angul (slot II) and 151 km Angul-Sambalpur (slot III).
Incomplete at several stretches, NH-55 is said to be a driver’s nightmare. Between 2016 and 2022, it reported 1,315 accidents and 603 deaths, thanks due to its terrible condition. Policemen engaged in traffic management claim half the accidents in the stretch are due to potholes and under-construction roads.
Three years have passed since the original deadline and more than 40 per cent of the work awaits completion.