Bhubaneswar: The ambitious Gopalpur-Digha coastal highway project finally received a green signal as the Odisha government agreed to the alignment proposed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
In a recent meeting chaired by chief secretary Asit Kumar Tripathy, the State government agreed to the proposed alignment from Satpada to Digha via Puri-Konark-Astarang-Ratanpur-Dhamara-Basudevpur-Chandipur and asked the NHAI authorities to proceed for obtaining necessary clearances for the project.
According to sources, the proposed project under the Bharatmala scheme of the Centre had not made any headway after the State government raised objections on the alignment presented by the NHAI.
Besides, the ministry of environment and forest had made some observations on alignment passing through Chilika and other eco-sensitive areas following which the alignment was subsequently modified.
The State government will review the alignment from Gopalpur to Chilika lake in another meeting and a decision will be taken on the same later. The Chief Secretary assured the NHAI of all help in implementation of the project.