Delay in land acquisition is proving to be a stumbling block in expediting road projects as 16 schemes worth about Rs 15,000 crore are stalled due to it.
“Sixteen major highway projects in four states entailing about Rs 15,000 crore investment are stalled due to inordinate delays in land acquisition,” a road transport and highways ministry official told PTI.

Rajasthan, which had prided itself on leading the way in relocation of villagers from its tiger reserves, is now facing a backlash. Villagers living inside Sariska reserve are in agitation mode and are refusing to be relocated.

Their complaint is that the `10 lakhs being offered to them by the government is completely inadequate. Gujjar leader Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla is also supporting their agitation which is also being fuelled by mine owners who operate on the boundaries of Sariska and who want to restart their mining operations.

SHILLONG: The State Government is preparing its written submission on the jinxed Umiam-Jorabat four-lane road project to be submitted before the Gauhati High Court, following a direction from the court.

The Gauhati High Court asked the State Government to file the written submission on the basis of a PIL filed by the landowners and an NGO in opposition to the recent decision of the State Government to construct the proposed four-lane road through the Umsning Bypass.

KOCHI: The District Collector has ordered the setting up of an empowered committee to recommend long-term programmes for the conservation of the Periyar river. The committee will consist of engineers, green activists and members from the panchayat.

“A number of studies on the river have been undertaken, however, none of them focused on the projects that can be taken up for its conservation. This committee will specifically focus on the projects that can be implemented in the area. The committee will also draw upon the earlier studies on the river,” said District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth.

TARDY PROGRESS Inquiry committee of road ministry finds World Bank Institutional Integrity Unit report on Lucknow-Muzaffarpur highway project true
Aprobe panel of the road ministry has recommended a CBI investigation into allegations of fraud against private contractors involved in the Lucknow-Muzaffarpur highway project.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has pulled up the National Highways Authority for its laggard pace in completing projects. It has called NHAI’s 20 kilometer per day target for highway construction as a ‘distant dream’. “NHAI is not in a position to complete any project whether it is NHDP or non-NHDP within the scheduled period, although financing has not been an issue for them. NHAI is adding projects after projects without achieving the targets,” the House panel said.

Three years after over a lakh trees were axed and nearly two lakh plants uprooted for widening of the National Highway-I, Punjab is finding it hard to meet its afforestation target due to paucity of forestland. So much so that the state Forest Department was now planting saplings on common village land and in educational institutes.

Calcutta, April 30: The Bengal government’s failure to acquire land for development projects came under the glare today at a meeting between National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairman A.K. Upadhyay and chief secretary Samar Ghosh. Upadhyay, who is also a secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways, had written to Ghosh on March 27 that several projects relating to the national highways had come to a halt in Bengal because of problems related to land acquisition. He had appended a list of such projects with his letter.

BHUBANESWAR: Even as sewerage and drainage projects of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar planned under the Integrated Sanitation Improvement Programme, are scheduled to be completed in two years, the work is very sluggish. Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik reviewed the progress of the externally- aided projects at a high-level meeting here recently. The meeting revealed that detailed engineering plan had been completed and there was no requirement of additional land for the projects. Project clearance from different Government agencies is being obtained.

Pertinent development project proposals came up for discussion at the crucial sixth meeting of the State Board for Wildlife, Assam (SBWL) held in Guwahati.

In this meeting, the Board was apprised of all the initiatives taken by the Assam Government for improving wildlife protection in the State. The Board appreciated the move to establish Tiger Conservation Foundations for Kaziranga, Manas and Nameri Tiger Reserves, the Wildlife (Protection) Assam Amendment Act, 2009 and giving power to forest personnel to use firearms without prior government sanction and immunity from prosecution.