The Centre has agreed to fund the prestigious state capital region outer ring road (ORR) project proposed by the TDP government, said sources. The 180-km-long, eight-lane outer ring road will cost Rs.19,700 crore.The proposed ORR will pass through two national highways on either side of Vijayawada city . It will have two bridges across the Krishna.
Expressing its willingness to include the project in National Highways Development Plan Project, Phase-VII, the Union Road Transport and Highways (RT&H) ministry has, however, made it clear that the state government should provide the required land to take up the project.
Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu submitted a detailed memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August explaining the need for an ORR for the state capital region. Naidu had said Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali ORR should be taken up on the lines of Hyderabad ORR as the VGTM region has been picked up as capital city region of Andhra Pradesh. The ORR will help boost the economic development of the region besides providing transit-oriented development, argued the chief minister in his memorandum. In a quick move, the PMO forwarded the CM's request to RT&H minister Nitin Gadkari, who in turn asked his ministry to study the proposal. The Union road transport ministry had in principle agreed to include the proposal under Phase-VII of NHDP . In a reply to the PMO, RT&H chief engineer SS Nahar explained that Gadkari had promised to include the proposal for grant of funds in NHDP , Phase-VII.He however, said it would be the sole responsibility of the state government to provide the right of way (RoH) and hand over land to the national highways authority .
This means the state government will have to take the burden of acquiring land for taking up the ORR. According to local engineers, the 180 km long ORR would require anywhere around 4,000 acres of land, which may cost at least Rs.5,000 crore.
The NH paid compensation of around Rs 1 crore per acre during the road-widening project taken up near Ongole, and the state government may be compelled to pay more than the price offered in Ongole since land prices in VGTM area are quite higher.
In case farmers demand more, the burden on the state exchequer will go up. Eight-lane highway and two lane service road will be part of the proposed ORR. “Now, it is our responsibility to match the speed of the Centre and get the funds in time,“ felt Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani).
He said the state government should immediately get clearance for appointing a consultant to complete detailed project report (DPR) and send it early to the Centre for getting other clearances. He said that state government will also prepare a blueprint for acquisition of land either through land pooling or payment of compensation.
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