The six-lane National Highway project from Anakapalle to Anandapuram, the work on which is scheduled for completion by July 2021, is likely to get delayed due to land acquisition issues. Progress of the work has already been affected by the lockdown imposed from the third week of March in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19.
Work on the ‘litigation-free’ stretches has begun with local workers, after the end of the fourth phase of lockdown. The return of migrant workers, involved in road work, who went to their native States, is expected to take at least a couple of months.
The ₹2,000-crore project is meant to decongest the traffic on the National Highway (NH-16) stretch, which now passes through the city between Anakapalle and Anandapuram. There is a danger of the project being descoped due to cost escalations as a result of the delays.
The six-lane bypass road will also enable heavy vehicles like trucks and trailers going from Vijayawada towards Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, and those coming from the places and going towards Chennai, to reach their destination without getting caught in the city traffic.
“The pending land acquisition, pertains to about 90 hectares of private and assigned land, which is under dispute. They extend over a stretch of 5 km. The compensation for land acquired will be paid by the Union government but the acquisition has to be done by the State government,” Project Director, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Siva Sankar, told The Hindu.
Legal tangles
“The disputed land falls at the major interchange points at Pendurthy, Sabbavaram and Anakapalle. It involves construction of flyovers, slip roads and ramps at these junctions, for which a lot of land is required. The work at the interchange points itself will require a year’s time. The legal tangles over the 5-km stretches can create problems in the smooth execution of the project. Failure to clear the legal hurdles and hand over the land, may result in the stoppage of the project,” he said.
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