Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Dec 17: With authorities setting in motion the felling of trees, the four -lanning of Aknoor road is likely to be started by next year March onwards.
According to authoritative sources, the authorities of National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDC) of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (Government of India) which has been assigned the task of four lanning of Akhnoor road is on the job as the process for land acquisition has also been started with the notices being served under Section 4 (1) which will be followed by serving of notices under Section 6 for the acquisition of land.
Sources said that 85 percent of the land on either side of the Akhnoor road belonged to Government and mainly to Irrigation Department so there is no difficulty in its acquisition. The authorities of Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation, which is getting full cooperation from the State Government authorities are confident that there will be no hitch in acquiring the Government land. Even the concerned departments like PHE, Irrigation and PDD which have their utilities along the road have also framed the detailed estimates for shifting the same.
Sources said that all the three departments have submitted their detailed estimates to the Corporation and once the payment is made to them they will start the shifting of utilities.
The Irrigation Department has also submitted its No Objection Certificate for land acquisition to Government and the same is in process. Soon after the 80 percent land is acquired by the Corporation, it will start the work on the four lanning of the road by issuing the tenders, sources added.
Sources said that Corporation has already started the felling of trees along the road which is the initial process for starting of the work. The Corporation and the individual Department team will now make the joint verification of installations of the various departments on the road viz a viz the estimates submitted by these departments and after the finalization of the same, the Corporation will make payments to these departments for the shifting of utilities on which near about Rs 50 crore will be incurred.
Sources said that from point zero i.e fourth Tawi Bridge up to 4.5 km distance near Muthi camp which is a congested area, the Fly Over will be constructed to avoid the maximum damage to the private property. Though the Corporation needs 60 feet land for the four lanning of the road but it will acquire 100 feet wide land right from Tawi bridge to Akhnoor keeping future plan in consideration, sources added.
“Moreover to minimize damage to the structures in Bhagwati Nagar, Mohinder Nagar area, the authorities have decided to lay the slab over the escape canal of Ranbir Canal near Power House. Besides, due care will also be taken to protect Rajinder Park, sources added.
Maintaining that the land acquisition under Section 4 has started as notices have been served in this regard, M G Vijay Kumar, General Manager, National Highway and Infrastructure Develop-ment Corporation Ltd said that joint survey of the road has already been completed and traffic studies forecasting traffic design for four lanning have already been done.
He said the maximum land to be acquired by the Corporation belonged to Government as 85 percent of the same is of Irrigation Department, which have submitted the NOC to concerned authorities in the Government. He said first four kms of the road will be elevated. But the Ranbir Canal will not be disturbed in the four lanning of the road.
The Corporation required 60 feet minimum width from the existing alignment of the road but it will acquire 100 feet keeping in view the future plan. The encroachments on various places of the road have to be removed by the Government before the transfer of the land to Corporation, he added.
He said the total cost on the four lanning of the road will be from Rs 700 to 800 crore including land acquisition and shifting of utilities of the various departments. The total length of the road right from fourth bridge Bhagwati Nagar to Akhnoor will be 30.70 kms, he added.
Maintaining that felling of trees has started already, the GM said that 2500 tress right from Bhagwati Nagar to Akhnoor will be cut due to the widening of road. Moreover the Corporation has approached the Archeological Survey of India to seek permission for construction of 10 metre wide bridge near Ambaran Archeological Site at Akhnoor where 22 metre wide bridge already exists. “The ASI has banned any construction up to 300 meters from the site but we are hopeful to get the permission”, he added.
Vijay Kumar said the four lanning of road will be completed within two years time from the date of start of work.
He said in view of the increasing traffic pressure on the Akhnoor road, its four lanning has been a priority for the Corporation and soon after the land is handed over, the tendering process will start.
It may be recalled that the Government is also under constant pressure for four lanning of the Akhnoor road due to traffic congestion and routine traffic jams and accidents taking place on it.
There is worst traffic congestion on this busy road especially on peak hours. Moreover with the mushrooming of schools and marriage halls on the either side of this road have added to the traffic chaos and some times the people are trapped in traffic jams for hours tighter especially during the marriage season in night hours.
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