Source : The Hindu Date : 18.06.2009
Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway by 2012
Staff Reporter
| The 181.5 km project may cost Rs. 1,200 crore: NHAI |
— PHOTO: RAJU. V
I. G. Reddy, Project Director of National Highway Authority of India, addressing a meeting organised by the Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vijayawada on Wednesday.
VIJAYAWADA: The work on the four-laning of Hyderabad-Vijayawada Road project will commence in December, and is scheduled for completion by 2012. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will finalise the tenders by June. The 181.5 km project is estimated to cost Rs. 1,200 crore, according to I. G. Reddy, Project Director, NHAI.
He was delivering a talk on ‘Flyovers, ring roads in Vijayawada Urban organised by the Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry Association’ here on Wednesday.
Mr. Reddy said that the four-lane works, currently, were completed between Vijayawada and Nandigama, which is about 50 km and Hyderabad and Narketpally, a stretch of 40 km. The remaining 181 km would be converted into four lanes during this phase. The land acquisition would have to be taken up in as many as 65 villages on this stretch. The project would be taken up on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis, he said.
A road under bridge (RUB) would be constructed at Chillakallu, and two major bridges would be constructed across rivers Paleru and Musi. Similarly, 14 minor bridges would be constructed on this stretch. Service roads with a total length of about 16 km at the following 11 locations would also be constructed. On this stretch, the NHAI has planned three major junctions and 12 minor junctions.
Explaining the reasons for delay, Mr. Reddy said that the NHAI invited bids for 181km road in February 2007. As many as 19 companies evinced interest. The NHAI shortlisted six companies based on the new model selection criteria introduced by the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission. Some infrastructure companies raised questions about the fairness of bidding process of the Authority, and aggrieved that the method of selection was not according to the norms, he said, adding, after legal hurdles the contract was awarded to GMR.
The traffic density on this highway varies at various places.
The traffic from Hyderabad to Narkatpally was high, and it came down by 20 to 30 per cent after Narkatpally. The traffic density fell further by another 20 to 30 per cent at Suryapeta. However, the traffic increased after Nandigama, he said.
