By Arun Kumar Das
New Delhi, Aug 19 (BVI) To reduce traffic congestion in three major cities of Cuttack, Khordha and Bhubaneswar, a 6-lane access-controlled Bhubaneswar Bypass will be constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs 8000 crore.
The project, which was approved by the Central government today, integrates with 3 major National Highways (NH-55, NH-57 and NH-655) and 1 State Highway (SH-65) which provide seamless connectivity to key economic, social, and logistics nodes across Odisha.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved construction of the 110.875 km long 6-Lane Access-Controlled Capital Region Ring Road in Odisha on Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) at a total capital cost of Rs 8307.74 crore, an official spokesman said.
Currently, connectivity between Rameshwar to Tangi on the existing National Highway experiences significant congestion due to high traffic volumes, passing through highly urbanized cities Khordha, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
In order to address these challenges, the project is proposed to be developed as 6-Lane Access-Controlled Greenfield Highway.
The project will provide significant benefit to Odisha and other eastern States by diverting heavy commercial traffic away from Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Khordha Cities. This will enhance the efficiency of freight movement, reducing logistics cost and driving socio-economic growth in the region.
Additionally, the upgraded corridor will enhance multi-modal integration by connecting with 10 Economic Nodes, 04 Social Nodes and 05 Logistic Nodes, providing enhanced multimodality with 1 Major Railway Station, 1 Airport, 1 proposed Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP), and 2 major Ports thereby facilitating faster movement of goods and passengers across the region.
Upon completion, the bypass will play a pivotal role in regional economic growth, strengthening connectivity between major religious and economic centers and opening new avenues for trade and industrial development.
The project will also generate approximately 74.43 Lakhs person-days of direct and 93.04 lakh person-days of indirect employment, and will open new avenues of growth, development and prosperity in surrounding regions.(BVI)
